Acid-responsive natural amphiphile self-assembled nanoparticles with enhanced biointerface performance for tomato...

Conventional prochloraz (Pro) formulations suffer from poor stability, inadequate leaf deposition, and short persistence. In this work, we developed GA-Pro nanoparticles via ultrasound-assisted self-assembly of glycyrrhizic acid (GA), a natural amphiphile, and Pro. The 125.3 nm spherical nanoparticles, stabilized by hydrogen bonding, electrostatic, and van der Waals interactions, exhibited acid-responsive release (84.34% at pH 3.0 over 5 days) and enhanced photostability. GA-Pro significantly improved leaf interfacial performance, reducing surface tension to 46.1 mN/m, decreasing contact angle to 73.58 ° within 60 s, and increasing post-rain retention to 1.39-fold that of Pro EW. In vitro and in vivo assays demonstrated superior antifungal activity (EC₅₀= 0.24 μg/mL) and 96.55% control efficacy, with metabolomics revealing enrichment of metabolic pathways associated with plant defense responses. Biosafety assessments confirmed low hemolysis, high cell viability, and no phytotoxicity. Overall, GA-Pro provides a promising biosafe, acid-responsive nanoplatform for tomato gray mold management.