UTILIZATION OF EXOPHYTIC AND ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI IN CONTROLLING ANTHRACNOSE DISEASE IN CHILI PEPPERS (Capsicum frutescens L.)

Anthracnose disease in cayenne pepper fruit is a very dangerous and detrimental disease for farmers in Bali Province. The results showed that the dominant exophytic fungus was Aspergillus niger in stems, fruits and leaves at 80%, 80% and 73.3%, respectively. The dominant endophytic fungus in stems, fruits and leaves was in the stems of Rhizopus sp., in the fruits of A. flavus and A. niger at 44.4%, 44.4% and 55.6%, respectively. The highest inhibitory power of exophytic fungi against pathogens (Colletotrichum capsici) was greatest from isolates of A. niger and Neurospora sp. at 80±0.4% and 80±0.3% respectively from leaves, while the highest inhibitory power of endophytic fungi from isolates of A. flavus and Rhizopus sp. at 80±0.6% respectively, which came from chili stems. The diversity index of exophytic fungi in stems, fruits and leaves is relatively small (<1) with less stable criteria with a fairly large dominance index (>0.5) this means that there is a dominant species, namely A. niger. The diversity index of endophytic fungi in stems, fruits and leaves ranges from 1.21-1.8 (quite stable) with a fairly large dominance index (>0.5) which is dominated by Rhizopus sp. in stems, while in fruits and leaves by A. niger. The best in vivo inhibition power was obtained from A. niger with an attack percentage of 0% (the same as the control without pathogens), followed by A. niger at 12.47±4.47%.