Evaluation studies of some medicinal plant extracts and fungicides against Alternaria solani.

Alternaria is a polyphagus fungus that occurs frequently on dead and decaying organic material and is responsible for causing leaf spot disease. In Indian subcontinent, there are different varieties of plants showing antimicrobial and other medicinal properties which can be employed in plant disease management to reduce the chemical load from the environment. The present investigation has been taken to evaluate the effect of medicinal plant (leaf) extracts and their combination with fungicides (Carbendazim) against radial growth of Alternaria solani.. The fungus was collected from infected leaf spots of potato plant and grown in PDA (potato dextrose agar) media. The water extracts of medicinal plants viz. Azadirachata indica (3%), Calotropis procera (3%), Nerium oleander (3%), Ocimum sanctum (3%) fungicide, carbendazim (1%) and their combinations were prepared. On the basis of results, the medicinal plant extracts Neem (3%), Nerium (3%) added with carbendazim (1%) showed maximum inhibition of fungus (Alternaria solani).African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Vol. 9 (1) 2008: pp. 19-2