Environmentally friendly microemulsions of curcumin and mangiferin to protect crops against Fusarium verticillioides

The significant increase in the use of chemical pesticides to combat crop diseases has created a growing awareness among many consumers because of the side effects of these pesticides on human health and the environment [ 1 ]. Indeed, pesticide residues have become the focus of attention of European bodies responsible for food safety. In May 2020, the European Commission developed directives linked to the reduction of the use of pesticides with two goals: decrease the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030 and reduce the use of the most dangerous pesticides by 50% by 2030 [ 2 ]. The search for alternative solutions to protect crops has become urgent and has recently attracted widespread attention from researchers around the world focusing on natural products which represent a treasure chest of molecules with potent activities. Among polyphenols, curcumin reported to be active against Fusarium species [ 3 ], while mangiferin has shown activity against postharvest fungal pathogens [ 4 ]. Due to the low water solubility of both polyphenols, microemulsions which are homogeneous thermodynamically stable transparent dispersions were selected as nanovectors. The selected microemulsions were developed using vitamin E acetate as oil and Cremophor RH 40 and Labrasol ALF as surfactants by using a pseudo-ternary diagram, loaded with 10 mg/mL of polyphenols and evaluated against Fusarium verticillioides strains. Activity against F. verticillioides was tested using amphotericin B as the positive control. F. verticillioides was very susceptible to both nanoformulations. Both polyphenols remained very active at a dose of 5 mg/ml, with a four log reduction of F. verticillioides . Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany