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. 2023 Feb 17;9(3):e13810. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13810

Table 1.

Antifungal activities of crude extracts from plants against phytopathogenic fungi that affect fruits and vegetables.

Plant species (part used) Fungi species (disease caused) Efficacy observed References
  • Lantana hirta (leaf and flower)

  • Argemone ochroleuca (leaf-fruit and root)

  • Adenophyllum

  • Porophyllu (leaf-stem and leaf)

  • Pestalotiopsis clavispora

  • Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

  • Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae (Blueberry dieback)

  • In an in vitro assay, ethyl acetate extracts of the listed plants obtained by maceration inhibited 100% of the mycelial growth of the fungal strains at a concentration of 5 mg/mL.

[12]
  • Cuminum cyminum

  • Zingiber officinale

  • Citrullus colocynthis

  • Macrophomina phaseolina (Okra seed rot and seedlings death)

  • In an in vitro assay, C. cyminum 70% ethanol extract had a significant effect on the inhibition of the radial growth and dry weight of M. phaseolina followed by Z. officinale and C. colocynthis.

[13]
  • Acacia albida (leaves)

  • Azadirachta indica (leaves)

  • Argemone Mexicana (leaves)

  • Dovalis abyssinica (leaves)

  • Prosopis juliflora (leaves)

  • Vernonia amygdalina (leaves)

  • Colletotrichum musae (Banana anthracnose)

  • In vitro assay using a paper disk and spore germination methods demonstrated that the methanol extracts have high to moderate antifungal activity.

  • P. juliflora methanol extract was the most effective in inhibiting mycelial growth of the test fungus (30.7 mm), followed by A. albida (19 mm).

  • D. abyssinica, A. mexicana, and V. amygdalina showed good antifungal activity (11.7, 11.0, and 9.7 mm, respectively).

  • Extracts from D. abyssinica, P. juliflora and A. albida reduced conidial germination to 0.5, 0.3 and 0.2%, respectively.

  • Aqueous extracts of A. albida showed the highest antifungal activity (18 mm), followed by P. juliflora (12.3 mm).

[14]
  • Thymus leptobotrys (leaves and stems)

  • Cistus villosus (leaves and stems)

  • Eucalyptus globulus (leaves and stems)

  • Peganum harmala (seeds)

  • Penicillium digitatum

  • Penicillium italicum

  • Geotrichum candidum (Citrus fruit decay)

  • In an in vitro assay using agar plate method, all plants showed high antifungal activities against the tested pathogens.

  • The essential oil of T. leptobotrys (at 1.2 g/L) obtained by steam distillation had the highest fungistatic effect (100%), compared with the essential oils of E. globulus, C. villosus and P. harmala, where the growth inhibition was less than 40% on the tested fungal pathogens.

  • T. leptobotrys chloroform and methanol extracts obtained by soxhlet extraction exhibited a significant fungistatic activity, 100% inhibition of fungal growth by the chloroform extract at a concentration of 0.3% (w/v), and a 71–76% inhibition by the methanol extract at a concentration of 1.5% (w/v).

  • Chloroform and methanol extracts of P. harmala tested at a concentration of 1% and 2% (w/v), respectively, exhibited a pronounced activity against the tested pathogens.

  • C. villosus and E. globulus chloroform and methanol extracts showed relatively lower inhibitory effects.

[15]
  • Allium sativum (bulb)

  • Datura metel (leaves)

  • Dryopteris filix-mas (aerial parts)

  • Zingiber officinale (rhizomes)

  • Smilax zeylanica (leaves)

  • Azadirachta indica (leaves)

  • Curcuma longa (rhizomes)

  • Pestalotiopsis theae

  • Colletotrichum camelliae

  • Curvularia eragrostidis

  • Botryodiplodia theobromae (Tea leaf disease)

  • In vitro assay using spore germination method revealed that ethanol and aqueous extracts of the listed plants have 100% inhibition of spore germination.

[16]
  • Acalypha subviscida (aerial parts)

  • Ipomoea murucoides (leaves)

  • Tournefortia densiflora (aerial parts and roots)

  • Lantana achyranthifolia (aerial parts)

  • Adenophyllum aurantium (aerial parts and roots)

  • Alternaria alternata

  • Fusarium solani (black molds in tomato ripe fruits and blight of pepper crops)

  • In an in vitro assay using radial growth inhibition technique, methanol extracts of all plants inhibited fungal growth in the ranges of 0.76–56.17% against F. solani and 2.02–69.07% against A. alternata.

  • The extracts of A. subviscida, I. murucoides, T. densiflora and L. achyranthifolia showed MIC values between 5.77 and 12.5 mg/mL for at least one of the fungal species.

  • The best treatment A. aurantium exhibited a maximum inhibition for F. solani (56.17%, MIC = 7.78 mg/mL) and A. alternata (68.64%, MIC = 7.78 mg/mL).

[17]
  • Allium sativum (cloves)

  • Zingiber officinale (rhizomes)

  • Lantana camara (leaves)

  • Tagetes erecta (leaves)

  • Phytophthora infestans

  • Alternaria solani (early and late blight of tomato)

  • In an in vitro assay using radial growth inhibition technique, the crude extracts obtained by maceration (using 95% methanol and ethanol) and the essential oils extracted by steam distillation portrayed some efficacy against the test pathogens.

  • A. sativum crude extracts were found to be the most effective.

  • Essential oils were more effective in restricting the pathogen growth than crude extracts.

  • Z. officinale and A. sativum oil was found to be as effective as the synthetic fungicide (Ridomil Gold®).

[18]
  • Solanum indicum (whole parts)

  • Azadirachta indica (young twigs with fruits)

  • Oxalis latifolia (aerial parts)

  • Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.lycopersici (wilt disease of tomato)

  • In an in vitro assay using poisoned food technique, the aqueous extracts of the plants obtained by maceration were proved to be potential in inhibiting the growth of the fungus viz., S. indicum (78.33%), A. indica (75.00%), and O. latifolia (70.33%).

[19]
  • Thespesia populneavar. acutiloba (leaves)

  • Chrysanthemum frutescens (leaves)

  • Sclerotium rolfsii (sugar beet damping-off)

  • Laboratory experiments (in vitro assay) indicated that methanol extracts of both plants were effective against S. rolfsii.

  • In vivo results under greenhouse conditions confirmed that these plant extracts were effective against the damping-off pathogen, either by coating or soaking of sugar beet seeds.

[20]
  • Azadirachta indica (seeds)

  • Jatropha curcas (seeds)

  • Nicotiana tabacum (leaves)

  • Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (white yam anthracnose)

  • The results of in vitro assay using poisoned food technique showed that aqueous extract of each plant obtained by maceration has significant inhibition on the mycelia growth of C. gloeosporioide.

  • The 75% concentration of the plant extracts exhibited the best inhibitory effect considering the percentage mycelial growth it recorded.

  • The results of the field trial (in vivo assay) revealed that each plant extract at 75% concentration significantly reduced the incidence and severity of the anthracnose disease.

[21]
  • Acacia nilotica (leaves)

  • Achillea fragrantissima (leaves)

  • Calotropis procera (leaves)

  • Alternaria solani (early blight of tomato)

  • Aqueous or 80% ethanol extracts obtained by maceration of all tested plants reduced the mycelial growth and conidium germination of A. solani in an in vitro assay, ethanol extract being more effective.

  • Extract of C. procera exhibited more antifungal potential against the pathogen than other plant extracts.

  • In a plot experiment (in vivo assay), both types of extracts from C. procera reduced disease severity.

[22]
  • Mentha piperita (leaves)

  • Ocimum basilicum (leaves)

  • Eucalyptus camaldulensis (leaves)

  • Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.lycopersici (wilt of tomato)

  • In an in vitro assay, all levels of concentration of aqueous extracts of the three test plants obtained by maceration significantly inhibited the growth of the fungus compared to the control treatment.

  • Over the course of the experiment, aqueous extracts of E. camaldulensis showed relatively high inhibition zone (44.1, 53.1 and 53.1%) followed by O. basilicum (36.8, 51.5, and 54.4%) and M. piperita aqueous extract as well (35.5, 39.6 and 39.6%), respectively.

[23]
  • Ocimum basilicum (leaves)

  • Azadirachta indica (leaves)

  • Eucalyptus chamadulonsis (leaves)

  • Datura stramonium (leaves)

  • Nerium oleander (leaves)

  • Allium sativum (leaves)

  • Alternaria solani (early blight disease of tomato)

  • In an in vitro assay using poisoned food technique, the aqueous extracts of D. stramonium, A. indica, and A. sativum at 5% concentration caused the highest reduction of mycelial growth of A. solani (44.4, 43.3 and 42.2%, respectively) while O. basilicum at 1% and 5% concentration and N. oleander at 5% concentration caused the lowest inhibition of mycelial growth of the pathogen.

  • In greenhouse experiments (in vivo assay), the highest reduction of disease severity was achieved by the extracts of A. sativum at 5% concentration and D. stramonium at 1% and 5% concentration.

[24]
  • Anadenanthera colubrina (bark)

  • Artemisia annua (leaves)

  • Cariniana estrelensis (leaves and barks)

  • Ficus carica (leaves)

  • Ruta graveolens (leaves and flowers)

  • Alternaria alternata (Murcott tangor fruits brown spot disease)

  • A. colubrina methanol extract obtained by maceration was the most active extract against A. alternata in in vitro assay while A. annua, C. estrelensis, F. carica, and R. graveolens presented moderate in vitro antifungal activity, but no effects were observed on the disease when the extracts were applied to fruits inoculated with the fungus.

  • In in vivo assay, only A. colubrina showed suppression of lesions caused by A. alternata.

[25]
  • Curcuma longa

  • Zingiber officinale

  • Cymbopogon citratus

  • Garcinia mangostana

  • Hibiscus sabdarifa

  • Syzygium aromaticum

  • Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis species (fruit diseases: jackfruit, rose apple, mangosteen, plum, snake fruit, rambutan,strawberry, and avocado)

  • Ethanol extracts of all plants obtained by maceration could inhibit the growth of Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis species in an in vitro assay except G. mangostana.

[26]
  • Lantana camara (leaves)

  • Salvadora persica (bark)

  • Thymus vulgaris (leaves)

  • Zingiber officinale (rhizomes)

  • Ziziphus spina-christi (leaves)

  • Fusarium oxysporum

  • Pythium aphanidermatum

  • Rhizoctonia solani (tomato damping-off diseases)

  • In an in vitro assay, T. vulgaris and Z. officinale methanol extracts obtained by maceration were strongly active and showed fungistatic and fungicidal activities against the phytopathogenic fungi with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC of 4 mg/mL) and minimal fungicidal concentrations (MFC of 8 mg/mL) except F. oxysporum which was less sensitive and its MFC reached to 16 mg/mL of Z. officinale extract.

  • S. persica extract showed a moderate antifungal activity while L. camara and Z. spina-christi were not effective against tomato phytopathogenic fungi except P. aphanidermatum which was completely inhibited at 10 mg/mL of L. camara extract.

[27]
  • Plantago major

  • Rosmarinus officinalis

  • Alternaria species (Carrot leaf blight and black rot)

  • In an in vitro assay, R. officinalis extract obtained by liquid carbon dioxide subcritical extraction had an apparent reducing effect on fungal growth that was dose-dependent while P. major was found to be less effective.

[28]
  • Oxalis barrelieri (leaves)

  • Stachytarpheta cayennensis (leaves)

  • Euphorbia hirta (leaves)

  • Fusarium oxysporumf. sp. vasinfectum

  • Alternaria solani

  • Rhizoctonia solani (tomato diseases)

  • Aqueous and 70% ethanol extracts of the plants obtained by maceration inhibited fungal growth in vitro at 1.25–20 mg/mL and ethanol extracts were more effective (80–100% inhibition) than water extracts (<62%).

  • In greenhouse experiments (in vivo assay), spraying E. hirta ethanol extract on tomato plants infected by R. solani reduced disease severity up to 80%, when compared to non-sprayed plants.

[29]
  • Curcuma longa (rhizomes)

  • Allium sativum (bulbs)

  • Zingiber officinale (rhizomes)

  • Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici

  • F. solani (wilt and root rot of tomato)

  • In vitro assay revealed that mycelial growth and spore germination was inhibited significantly with all aqueous extracts of the plants obtained by maceration.

  • A. sativum completely reduced the mycelial growth of F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and F. solani at highest concentration.

  • Z. officinale showed moderate inhibition ranging from 37.77 to 48.47% against F. solani and 30.33–44.49% against F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici.

  • C. longa exhibited moderate inhibition of F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, whereas, least inhibition was observed against F. solani.

  • Conidial germination of test fungi was almost completely reduced by A. sativum extract.

[30]
  • Citrus sinensis (fruit peel)

  • Ananas comosus (fruit peel)

  • Anacardium occidentale (fruit peel)

  • Musa species (fruit peel)

  • Aspergillus niger

  • Alternaria alternata (fruits spoilage)

  • Results of in vitro assay showed that A. niger had its respective inhibition zones with C. sinensis, A. occidentale, A. comosus and M. species peel extracts as 0.33 ± 0.33, 0.40 ± 0.30, 0.60 ± 0.20 and 0.87 ± 0.33 cm while inhibition zones of A. alternata with the peels in the same order were 0.50 ± 0.50, 0.60 ± 0.35, 0.87 ± 0.43 and 1.37 ± 0.67 cm.

  • The order of antifungal activity of the peel extracts against the tested fungi was M. species > A. comosus > A. occidentale > C. sinensis.

[31]
  • Ageratum conyzoides (whole plant)

  • Bidens pilosa (whole plant)

  • Callistemon citrinus (leaves)

  • Cymbopogon citratus (leaves)

  • Erigeron floribundus (whole plant)

  • Ocimum gratissimum (whole plant)

  • Tephrosia vogelii (whole plant)

  • Phythopthora infestans (late blight disease of potato and tomato)

  • Essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation exhibited the best control of the pathogen, followed by ethanol extracts obtained by maceration in in vitro assay.

  • Total inhibition of pathogens growth was obtained with essential oils of C. citratus at 300 ppm, O. gratissimum at 400 ppm, and C. citrinus at 5000 ppm.

  • The ethanol extracts of A. conyzoides and C. citrinus totally inhibited the pathogen at 5000 ppm, and that of O. gratissimum at 10,000 ppm.

[32]
  • Vitis vinifera (leaves)

  • Zizyphus spina-christi (leaves)

  • Punica granatum (leaves)

  • Ficus carica (leaves)

  • Alternaria solani

  • Botrytis cinerea

  • Fusarium oxysporum

  • Fusarium solani (potato, tomato, and artichoke diseases)

  • F. oxysporum and F. solani were the most resistant fungi against all methanol extracts tested.

[33]
  • Azadirachta indica (leaves)

  • Ocimum sanctum (leaves)

  • Allium sativum (bulbs)

  • Alternaria solani (tomato early blight disease)

  • Aqueous extracts of A. indica, A. sativum and O. sanctum showed signifcant antifungal activity at all tested concentrations in both in vitro and in vivo (greenhouse and field) assays.

  • A. indica extracts reduced disease incidence to 62.32%, in the greenhouse assay while in the field experiment, A. sativum showed highest reduction in disease incidence to 77.42%.

[34]
  • Artemisia annua (leaves)

  • Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

  • Botrytis cinerea

  • Phytophthora infestans

  • Verticillium dahliae (foliar and soil-borne fungal diseases of tomato)

  • S. sclerotiorum was found to be highly sensitive to volatile and contact phase of the essential oil obtained by steam distillation in in vitro assay.

  • Minimum fungicidal concentrations of the volatile phase of the essential oil for S. sclerotiorum, B. cinerea, P. infestans and V dahliae were 1.6, 2.4, 2.4 and 4.4 μg/mL, respectively.

  • The essential oil in the contact phase showed minimum fungicidal concentration ranging from 6.4 μg/mL to 51.2 μg/mL.

  • Volatile and contact phase of the essential oils, at 2.4 and 51.2 μg/mL concentrations completely inhibited the conidial germination and germ tube elongation of the tested fungal pathogens.

[35]
  • Phyllostachys pubescens (leaves)

  • Phytophthora capsici

  • Fusarium graminearum

  • Valsa mali

  • Botryosphaeria dothidea

  • Venturia nashicola

  • Botrytis cinerea (pepper phytophthora blight)

  • The extract obtained by 95% ethanol showed good anti-fungal activity to P. capsici, F. graminearum, V. mali, B. dothidea, V. nashicola, and B. cinerea with inhibitory rate of 100.00%, 75.12%, 60.66%, 57.24%, 44.62%, and 30.16%, respectively in in vitro assay.

  • In in vivo (greenhouse) assay, the formulated extract (10% emulsion in water) had a control effect of 85.60% on pepper phytophthora blight.

[36]
  • Cupressus benthamii (leaves)

  • Pachypodanthium staudtii (bark)

  • Dracaena deisteliana (leaves)

  • Erigeron floribundus (leaves)

  • Vetiveria zizanioides (roots)

  • Croton macrostachyus (leaves)

  • Lantana camara (leaves)

  • Hymenodictyon floribundum (leaves)

  • Bryophyllum pinnatum (leaves)

  • Phytophthora infestans (tomato late blight disease)

  • C. benthamii and V. zizanioides extracts obtained by dichloromethane: methanol (1:1) were the most effective preparations, leading to 23% and 35% inhibition of sporangial germination, respectively in in vitro assay, and to 86% and 77% disease reduction in in vivo (greenhouse) assay.

  • Preparations made from the remaining plants showed moderate to low efficiency.

[37]
  • Ricinus communis

  • Chromolaena odorata

  • Alternaria solani (early blight diseases of tomato)

  • The radial growth results revealed that aqueous extract of R. communis at 100% concentration has the lowest radial growth rates of 1.43 cm, 2.00 cm and 2.72 cm at 24, 48 and 72 h respectively in in vitro assay.

[38]
  • Lantana camara (fruits, leaves and stem)

  • Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Mango anthracnose)

  • The results of in vitro experiment revealed that higher concentration of methanol extract of fruits (5%) obtained by maceration significantly reduced the biomass C. gloeosporioides up to 66%.

  • The trials also showed that 0.5% concentration of n-hexane fraction of methanol extract of fruits caused the highest reduction (45%) in the radial colony growth of the test fungus.

[39]