Abstract:
This study was conducted under laboratory conditions at the Plant Pathology Laboratory in College of Agricultural Studies)CAS( during September - October 2018. The study aim is to evaluate the efficacy of Argel (Solenostemma argel) and Mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) leaves ethanolic extracts and the fungicide Amstar Top® on the Fusarium oxysporum. Fusarium wilt is considered as one of the most important diseases of different crops worldwide. However, the indiscriminate use of synthetic fungicides and their increasing hazards to the public health and the environment coupled with the development of resistant strains of phytopathogenic fungi has led to the use of safe alternate products. Mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) and, Argel (Solenostemma argel) leaves ethanolic Extracts and Fungicide Amstar top was tested for their antifungal potential against F. Oxysporum. Different concentrations i.e. 25, 50, and 100% of both plants were prepared and their in-vitro bioactivity was examined against the said fungus. Our results revealed that all the tested concentrations were found significantly (P0.05) inhibiting the growth of the fungus. The higher concentration of ethanol extract of argel (100%) caused the maximum inhibition in the diameter of the tested fungus growth by 100% followed by the concentration (50%) which inhibited the fungus growth by 86.4% and the concentration (25%) by (61.2%).The concentrations 100% of Mesquite leaves recorded inhibitory effect by (97.2%) and 50% of recorded (67.3%) respectively while the fungicide “Amstar top” inhibited the fungus growth by 100%. The inhibition zone of the three tested concentrations i.e. 25, 50, and 100% were compared with untreated control and a standard chemical (Amstar top). Our results obtained from this study conclude that Mesquite and Argel leaves ethanolic Extracts are promising and encouraging to carry out further chemical analyses of plants to identify the effective ingredients to use it as alternatives to harmful pesticides that adversely affect human, animal and environment. On the other hand we recommend further studies for the bioactivity of the Mesquite and Argel leaves ethanolic Extracts In-vivo under field conditions.
