Preventative Compositions of Azadirachta indica Against Fusarium oxysporum

Abstract

As of 2018, there are over 7.8 billion people in the world. With an increase in population, it does not guarantee an increase of resources (de Oliveira et al. 2014; Chan, Tong, and Ng 2016). There are currently less than 3% of direct‐farming in the United States alone. With an advance in medicine, technology, and intake of new information, we can help stabilize the economy with our all in one products such as genetically modified organisms like BT corn where it contains its own pesticides to void away any creatures but still look ripe and delicious for the customer. With increase population and new advancements comes with new discoveries such as viruses, bacteria, and overall pathogens. (Agtmaal et al. 2017; Tümen et al. 2018; de Oliveira et al. 2014)Fusarium oxysporum, a soil‐borne fungus that is best known for causing Fusarium wilt disease to many agricultural crops such as bananas, onions, peas, potatoes and tomatoes. Essential oils have beneficial ingredients that contain antibacterial, antifungal, and protective coating properties that aid in the process of shielding plants from these plant pathogens. Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. has been shown to have less mycelial growth when the topical use of Azadirachta indica essential oil is used (Aznar et al. 2015; Díaz‐Cruz and Cassone 2018). Azadirachta indica or the common name, Neem Oil, is a native of south‐eastern Asia, mainly cultivated in Indian subcontinent and used for the development of industrial products(Mohanty, Raghavendra, and Prasad Dash 2008; El‐Khatib, Ali, and El‐Mohamedy 2017).This could positively impact society by providing more information regarding in understanding plant pathogens and to use essential oils like A. indica as a topical treatment against the growth of fungal infections. The need to test various concentrations of A. indica oil when exposed to Fusarium oxysporum, will help population to understand and adapt which concentrations are best against plant pathogens.The experiment was ran through different combinations of neem oil, surfactant, and water to prevent the growth of 1 cm discs of Fusarium oxysporum. Results showed a negative correlation of fungal growth and neem oil where the higher concentration of neem oil, the less mycelial growth from Fusarium oxysporum. The effectiveness of neem oil against the fungi that causes Fusarium wilt effects the life span of agricultural crops.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.