Fungitoxicity of Some Higher Plants with Special Reference to the Synergistic Activity Amongst some Volatile Fungitoxicants

During screening of the leaves of 25 plant species for their volatile toxicity against the test pathogen Fusarium lateritium f.sp.cajani, Aegle marmelos (Ae), Citrus aurantifolia (Ci) and Mentha arvensis var. piperascens (Me) exhibited strong toxicity inhibiting the mycelial growth completely. The active volatile constituents from each plant were isolated in the form of essential oil and the fungitoxicity of each oil was tested separately. The Aegle oil was found fungistatic while Citrus and Mentha oils were fungicidal in nature. Three oil combination (1:1 v/v) viz., Ae-Ci, Ae-Me and Ci-Me were made and their fungitoxicity was tested. The oil combinations were found to be more fungitosic than the individual oils, which were fungistatic in nature. The Ci-Me combination exhibited a broad fungitoxic spectrum while the other two Ae-Ci and Ae-Me possessed a narrow range of toxicity. The oils were found to have no toxic effect on seed germination, seedling growth (root and shoot length), and general morphology of the host plant(Cajanus cajan).