Trichoderma are a class of ubiquitous soil-borne fungi, the conidia from which are widely used in biological control to promote healthy plant growth and protect against plant pathogens. However, as with many biological materials, the relative instability of Trichoderma conidia limits their practical use in industrial applications. Therefore, there has been significant research interest in developing formulations and encapsulation methods that can enhance the shelf-life and overall efficacy of the Trichoderma. To this end, herein we investigate the use of a variety of biopolymers for the stabilization of Trichoderma atrobrunneum T720 conidia. The best performing agents – agar and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) – were used in the preparation of oil-in-water emulsions to encapsulate T720 conidia. Emulsion properties including oil type, oil:water ratio, and biopolymer concentration were investigated with respect to emulsion stability, droplet size, and conidia viability over time. Overall, agar-based formulations yielded highly stable emulsions with small droplet sizes, showing minimal evidence for creaming or phase separation after 1 month of storage. Moreover, agar-based formulations were able to maintain ~ 100% conidial viability after 3 months of storage, and over 70% viability after 6 months. We anticipate that the results demonstrated herein will lead to a new generation of significantly improved formulations for practical biological control applications.

Biopolymer-stabilized emulsions for the encapsulation of Trichoderma conidia towards biological control

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