Abstract
The antifungal activity of 10 plant extracts was tested against the phytopathogenic fungi, Alternaria alternata and Fusarium oxysporum, the pathogens of early blight and wilt diseases of tomato. Plants tested related to different families. Three doses (10, 50 and 100 mg/ml) of plant extracts were assayed on A. alternata and F. oxysporum by measuring the inhibition zone of mycelial growth of fungi by disc-diffusion method on the Potato dextrose agar (PDA). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of plant extracts were determined. The inhibitory effect of plant extracts ranged from 10-29 and 12-31 mm against A. alternata and F. oxysporum, respectively. The extracts of Pulicaria crispa and Olea chrysophylla were the most effective antifungal followed by Citrullus colocynthis, Psiadia arabica and Otostegia fruticosa. These plant extracts contain biologically active major compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. The remaining plant extracts did not emerge any inhibitive effect on tested fungi. The MIC and MFC of plant extracts ranged 6–38, 7-34 and 28-56, 22-50 mg/ml for A. alternata and F. oxysporum, respectively. Therefore, these plant extracts have biologically active compounds and have a potential to control fungal phytopathogens in agricultural crops.
Highlights
Alternaria and Fusarium fungi are well known plant pathogens that cause significant productivity losses in agricultural crops all over the world
Phytochemical analysis of 10 plant extracts by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GCMS) emerged the presence of biologically active major compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids (Tables 1 and 2). These compounds exhibited an inhibitive effect against plant pathogens A. alternata and F. oxysporum
The extracts of Pulicaria crispa and Olea chrysophylla were the most effective antifungal followed with Citrullus colocynthis, Psiadia arabica and Otostegia fruticosa extracts
Summary
Alternaria and Fusarium fungi are well known plant pathogens that cause significant productivity losses in agricultural crops all over the world. 3% only was completely inhibited the germination of fungi These findings emerged that plant extracts which possess antifungal activities toward Fusarium oxysporum could be employed as antifungal agents for the control of plant fungal diseases [3]. The phytochemical analysis of ethanolic extracts of plant leaves emerged the presence of antifungal compounds with variable levels, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, triterpenoids, and tannins [14] They have medicinal importance due to their activities as antimicrobial and medicinal effects [15,16,17]. The present study planned to evaluate the antifungal activity of plant extracts against phytopathogenic fungi, A. alternata and F. oxysporum to find an alternative safe biological control. It planned to phytochemical screening of plant extracts for their biologically active compounds
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