ANTIFUNGAL PROPERTY OF NARAVELIA ZEYLANICA (L.) DC AGAINST STORAGE PATHOGENS OF GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALIS)

Abstract

Presently there has been an increased interest in using herbal extracts and their phytocomponents as an alternative to control plant pathogenic microorganisms. Using agar cup diffusion method, different extracts of Naravelia zeylanica were evaluated for their potential antifungal activity against five phytopathogenic fungi, commonly involved in the post harvest diseases of Ginger. Among all the tested extracts, chloroform extract exhibited promising antifungal activity with maximum inhibition zones of 39.67mm followed by methanol, acetone and petroleum ether extract. Water extract was inactive against all the fungi except Aspergillus niger. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for the most active extracts determined by broth macro dilution technique found ranging between 1.56-3.12 mg/ml. In an approach towards development of eco-friendly antifungal control strategy, the obtained results hints on an existing potential of N. zeylanica extracts in the control and management of post harvest fungal pathogens of Ginger.