Antifungal activities of Punica granatum L. peel-compost tea for controlling damping-off disease caused by R. solani

Abstract

Rhizoctonia solani is common fungal pathogen to lupine plants (Lupinus albus L.) causing damping-off disease resulting in serious economic losses. In vitro experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of individual compost tea and pomegranate peel-compost tea prepared using water and alkaline water against R. solani. Three pomegranate types(two Palestinian and one Egyptian) were used. Greenhouse experiment was also conducted using the Palestinian sour pomegranate peel which showed a significant antifungal activity. Lupine plants were treated with compost alone or combined with pomegranate peel powder and their extracts to control lupine damping-off disease in comparison with untreated infected soil (control), and the fungicide (Rizolex-T). In vitro experiment, results showed that pomegranate peel-compost tea significantly decreased linear growth of the R. solani compared to individual compost tea. Alkaline water led to a significant reduction in the fungal growth compared to water. Under greenhouse conditions, all applied treatments significantly induced reduction in the damping-off percentage and improved the nodulation status and growth parameters compared to infested control. The maximum survived plants percentage and growth parameters of lupine plants were recorded for pomegranate peel-compost tea treatment, followed by the fungicide. Whereas the best nodulation status was achieved by the fungicide and pomegranate peel-compost tea. It could be concluded that pomegranate peel-compost tea may provide a high efficacy to pomegranate peel and compost in combination, so it might be used in a commercial scale for controlling damping-off disease.