English

Yaram Gowthami,Venkataramulu Deepa,Rajaputhran Darsana,Anumolu Goparaju,Thirunavukkarasu Chitrikha,Govindan Chandrasehar

doi:10.5897/jtehs2015.0333

Abstract

The fungicidal and fungistatic potential of methanolic root extract of male Carica papaya against Phomopsis vexans which affects egg plants (Solanum melongena L.) leading to the condition called the “Phomopsis blight” was investigated. Result of the experiments revealed that the aqueous extract did not show significant activity, but comparatively the methanol extract of male root demonstrated significant activity against the test fungus. Male methanolic root extract exhibited relatively higher antifungal activity than its female and hermaphrodite form. The extract was also found to be safe on the local algal population, which are one of the most sensitive indicators of toxicity. In summary, the male methanolic root extract can be considered as a potential biocontrol agent in the mitigation of P. vexans in the current scenario. There are no biological agents available for the control of P. vexans and here the present findings are novel in this regard. Key words: Fungicidal, fungitoxic, Carica papaya, Phomopsis vexans, methanolic extract, algal.

Highlights

Papaya (Carica papaya Linn.) is a unique source of potentially useful compounds with diverse structure and properties (Krishna et al, 2008)
Bisexual flowers are intermediate between the two unisexual forms (Nakasone and Paull, 1998; Parle and Gurditta, 2011) female plants and hermaphrodite forms are used for propagation while male plants are discarded considering the fact that they cannot be used for propagation
We tested the fungitoxic potential of the root extract of male papaya plant against the fungi Phomopsis vexans, which affects

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Papaya (Carica papaya Linn.) is a unique source of potentially useful compounds with diverse structure and properties (Krishna et al, 2008). Bisexual flowers are intermediate between the two unisexual forms (Nakasone and Paull, 1998; Parle and Gurditta, 2011) female plants and hermaphrodite forms are used for propagation while male plants are discarded considering the fact that they cannot be used for propagation. Papaya plants have been reported to contain biologically active compounds that can be utilized for various purposes (Krishna et al, 2008; Parle and Gurditta, 2011; Chindala et al, 2013). With this background, we tested the fungitoxic potential of the root extract of male papaya plant against the fungi Phomopsis vexans, which affects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

AND DISCUSSION

Findings

Conclusions