Experimental characterization of Pleurotus tuber-regium-derived silver nanoparticles and antifungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Candida albicans.

Mushroom-mediated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) offer a lower-reagent synthetic route to antifungal nanomaterials, but the contribution of Pleurotus tuber-regium sclerotial chemistry and activity across morphologically distinct opportunistic fungi remain insufficiently defined. In this experimental study, an aqueous sclerotial extract was characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and used to synthesize P. tuber-regium-derived AgNPs (Pt-AgNPs). Data from three independent synthesis batches were evaluated by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential analysis, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The resulting Pt-AgNPs showed a surface-plasmon peak at 421.7 ± 2.1 nm, a TEM diameter of 24.8 ± 5.4 nm, a DLS Z-average of 68.7 ± 3.8 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.246 ± 0.021, and a zeta potential of -26.4 ± 1.9 mV. Broth microdilution was performed using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute M38 and M27 procedures. Modal minimum inhibitory concentrations were 8, 4, and 4 µg/mL for Aspergillus fumigatus, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Candida albicans, respectively. Across 4-128 µg/mL, Pt-AgNPs produced larger inhibition zones than crude extract for each species (formulation effects, all p < 0.001). At 2× MIC, viable counts fell by at least 3 log10 CFU/mL by 12 h for A. fumigatus and C. neoformans. These findings provide an integrated characterization and antifungal-testing dataset and warrant further experimental validation across a broader isolate panel, mechanistic investigation, and safety assessment.