Inhibition of Fungal Plant Pathogens by Aqueous Extracts of Arum cyreniacum

Abstract

Arum cyreniacum is an important member of the family of Araceae because of its bio-activities. Hence this work aimed to establish a link between Arum cyreniacum and its uses as bio-control against plant pathogenic fungi which had never hitherto been established. This work was carried out to evaluate the activity of the aqueous extracts of tubers, leaves, and flowers of Arum cyreniacum against three different types of pathogenic fungi, Fusarium solani, Rhizopus microspores and Aspergillus niger. The antifungal activity of the aqueous extracts of Arum cyreniacum was determined by poisoned food technique. The results showed that Arum cyreniacum had an inhibitory effect in a dose-dependent manner on Fusarium solani, Rhizopus microspores, while Aspergillus niger was resistant to all extracts. However, the great inhibition activity against tested fungi was associated with increasing concentrations of the aqueous extracts of Arum cyreniacum. Data in this work indicated that the use of Arum cyreniacum could be a valid alternative for bio-control of plant pathogenic fungi.