Phytochemical Analysis and Antifungal Efficacy of Rhizome Extracts of various plants against Fusarium Wilt and Root Rot of Tomato

Fungal pathogens are serious problems on tomato plants.Among them, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.lycopersici and F. solani, causal agents of wilt and root rot, respectively, affect tomato production under greenhouse and field conditions.Aqueous extracts of three plant rhizomes viz., Curcuma longa Val., Allium sativum L. and Zingiber officinale Rosc.tested @ 20, 40, 60 and 80% concentrations.In vitro study revealed that mycelial growth and spore germination was inhibited significantly (P< 0.05) with all extracts.A. sativum completely reduced the mycelial growth of F. oxysporum f. sp.lycopersici and F. solani at highest concentration.Z. officinale showed moderate inhibition ranging from 37.77-48.47%against F. solani and 30.33-44.49%against F. oxysporum f. sp.lycopersici.C. longa exhibited moderate inhibition of F. oxysporum f. sp.lycopersici, whereas, least inhibition was observed against F. solani.Correspondingly, conidial germination of test fungi was almost completely reduced by A. sativum extract.Phytochemical screening of crude extract revealed the presence of flavonoids, terpenes, saponins, whereas, A. sativum was also found rich in steroids, tannins, glycosides and coumarins.Tannins were not detected in C. longa.Total phenol contents (TPC) were present in highest quantity ((54.24GAEmg/g) in A. sativum followed by Z. officinale (29.80GAEmg/g), whereas, rhizomes of C. longa contained lowest TPC (25.45GAEmg/g).It was concluded that rhizome extracts of A. sativum possesses sufficient antifungal activity under controlled conditions to warrant a further investigation under field conditions.