NATURAL PLANT EXTRACTS AND POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT OF YAMS IN STORAGE: A REVIEW

Nigeria accounts for 70% of global yam supply and more than 25% of yams produced every year are lost to various kinds of diseases and pests. Controlling the diseases and pests and the pathogens inciting them is important for the mitigation of loss in storage yams. The indiscriminate use of synthetic chemicals led to the development of resistance in these organisms, pests and plants brought about the utilization of higher concentrations, with corresponding rise in toxicity to humans and food products. A new approach to the control of pathogens which hampers quality food production and human safety has been implemented by the application of plant extracts. This approach has been considered to support the advantage of organic farming. These plant extracts (antimicrobial agents) when isolated are contained in the phyto-chemical constituents (Alkaloids, Saponins, Tannins etc.) of the plants. The antimicrobial activities of such plant extracts have been linked to the presence of bioactive compounds which sometimes serve to protect the plants themselves against bacteria, fungi and viral infections and exhibiting their antimicrobial properties on these organisms. However, this review is randomly dispersed in literature, and thus, summarizes the research results obtained on the different plant extracts as control measures for yams in storage and the efficacy of these plant extracts on rots