BIOEFFICACY OF A COMMON WEED Datura metel AGAINST Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

ABSTRACT Mango (Mangifera indica) is one of the most important trees grown mainly in the tropical and subtropical countries. Anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, is the most damaging disease causing reduction of flower set and yield losses in mango. The present study was designed to evaluate antifungal activity of Datura metel extracts against C. gloeosporioides. Extracts (1% to 3%) of different parts of D. metel viz. leaves, seeds and roots were assessed for their antifungal potential. Methanolic seed extract of D. metel depicted the highest antifungal potential against the test fungus. All the applied concentrations effectively reduced growth of the test fungus. However, 1.5% conc. of methanolic seeds extract showed maximum reduction (80%) in comparison with control. This extract was further subjected to fractionation using various organic solvents viz. n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. Chloroform fraction was proved to be the best for the inhibition of the target fungus that was analyzed by GC-MS and various bioactive constituents like n-hexadecanoic acid, phytol, octadecanoic acid, oleic acid, o-xylene and cyclohexanol were identified