In vitro efficacy of certain botanicals and their effect on some biochemical properties of Pectobacterium carotovora susp. carotovora inoculated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.)

Abstract

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) is a member of family Solanaceae. It is herbaceous, annual to perennial, prostrate and sexually propagated plant with bisexual flower. Tomatoes are attacked by many kinds of pathogens such as fungi, insects, nematodes, bacteria, viruses and viroid. Among bacterial diseases, bacterial soft rot devastates this important crop causing a huge decrease in yield and a greater loss in produce than any bacterial disease known. Yield losses due to post-harvest diseases of fruits and vegetables range from 20-30% but losses due to soft rot bacteria may reach up to 100% under insufficient conditions of storage facility, this have huge impacts on famers and vendors. In vitro efficacy of certain botanicals against bacterial soft rot of tomato were tested in the months of February to March, 2015 in the Department of Plant Pathology and Department of Biochemistry, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (Deemed University)– Allahabad, UP, India. Four botanicals were evaluated against the bacterial soft rot of storage tomato at 2 and 8 days after inoculation. After evaluation of botanicals efficacy, their effect on some biochemical properties of the treated tomato such as reducing sugars, vitamin C and pH were also evaluated. Turmeric 30% (T4) proved to be the best botanical to inhibit the bacterial growth while turmeric 20% (T3) and neem 30% (T6) appeared as superior in preserving biochemical properties of the tomato respectively.   Key words: Tomato, pathogens, bacterial disease.