TITLE:
Medicinal Plants, A promising Source of Natural Fungicides against Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum, Causal Agent of Wheat Blast
AUTHORS:
Abul Hasnat Md. Shamim
KEYWORDS:
Medicinal Plants, Extracts, Activity, Fungicides, Zone of Inhibition, Wheat Blast
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.12 No.5,
May
26,
2021
ABSTRACT: Wheat blast, caused by a fungal pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae Tritichum (MoT) pathotype (wheat isolates), was
first reported in Bangladesh among Asian countries in 2016. It is a serious
disease of wheat causing yield failures and significant economic losses during
epidemic years. Extensive use of persistent synthetic pesticides to control
notorious wheat blast imposes enormous threat to human health and environment.
In addition, the increasing demand for organic food has stimulated people to
look for alternative methods. Nowadays, the need for synthetic chemical-free
agricultural practices is gaining importance due to effective in managing crop
pests, inexpensive, biodegradable, easily available and have low toxicity to
non-target organisms. In order to identify active plants, 12 kinds of methanol
extracts obtained from 12 medicinal plants were conducted in vitro to test the effect against Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum (MoT) pathotype. The remarkable
inhibitory activity {(29.6 ± 01.5)
mm, (25.1 ± 01.0) mm and (20.0 ± 02.0) mm zone of inhibition)} exhibited by the extracts (5 mg/disk)
obtained from Artemisia indica (Nagdona), Persicaria orientalis (Bishkatali) and Clerodendrum indicum (Bamonhati), respectively. Other medicinal plant extracts did not show any
significant or no activity at all. Therefore, the three plant extracts might be
a promising source for developing natural fungicides against wheat blast.