Table 2.

Antifungal activities of crude extracts of plants against phytopathogenic fungi affecting cereals and pulses.

Plant species (part used)	Fungi species (disease caused)	Efficacy observed	References
•Artemisia indica (leaves and stems) •Persicaria orientalis (leaves and stems) •Clerodendrum indicum (leaves and stems)	•Magnaporthe oryzae (wheat blast disease)	•In vitro assay using disk diffusion method revealed that methanol extracts of A. indica, P. orientalis and C. indicum obtained by maceration possess significant antifungal properties (29.6 ± 01.5 mm, 25.1 ± 01.0 mm and 20.0 ± 02.0 mm) zone of inhibition, respectively at 5 mg/disk against the tested fungus.	[40]
•Artemisia herba (aerial parts) •Cotula cinerea (aerial parts) •Asphodelus tenuifolius (aerial parts) •Euphorbia guyoniana (aerial parts)	• Fusarium graminearum •Fusarium sporotrichioides (wheat disease)	⁃In vitro assay using poisoned food method revealed that aqueous extracts obtained by maceration from all plants are effective at concentrations of 10% and 20% for the Fusarium mycelia growth inhibition. ⁃In particular, A. tenuifolius extract is effective against F. graminearum, whereas F. sporotrichioides mycelium growth is strongly affected by E. guyoniana 20% extract.	[41]
•Eugenia aromatica (seeds) •Piper guineense (seeds) •Garcinia kola (nuts)	•Pyricularia oryzae (Rice blast)	•In vitro assay using poisoned food technique revealed that hexane extracts of all plants obtained by soxhlet extraction reduced the growth of P. oryzae at all tested concentrations. •Highest mycelial growth inhibitions of 100%, 98% and 97.3% were achieved by E. aromatica, P. guineense and G. kola, respectively at 100% concentrations. •All extracts at 100% concentration also showed significant inhibition on sporulation of P. oryzae.	[42]
•Datura metel (leaves) •Jatropha carcus (leaves) •Ruellia tuberosa (leaves)	•Pycularia grisea (Rice blast) •Rhizoctonia solani (Rice sheath blight)	•The results of in vitro assay using poisoned food technique showed that the 95% ethanol extract of D. metel and J. carcus obtained by maceration has the highest antifungal activity at 100% concentration against isolated pathogen causing sheath blight having 98.611 ± 1.589 and 98.588 ± 1.589% of mycelial inhibition, respectively. •J. carcus and R. tuberosa has highest antifungal property against rice blast having 97.436 ± 0.555% and 97.115 ± 0.96% respectively.	[43]
•Lawsonia inermis (leaves) •Lantana camara (leaves) •Acalypha wilkesiana (leaves) •Melia azedarach (leaves) •Punica granatum (fruit peel)	•Puccinia triticina (Wheat leaf rust)	•In an in vitro experiment using spore germination technique, all methanol extracts inhibited the germination of the fungus spores by 100%, while aqueous extracts were less effective. •In an in vivo experiment (greenhouse assay), all plant extracts decreased the disease severity of wheat leaf rust.	[44]
•Olea europaea (leaves) •Capsicum annuum (fruits)	•Seed borne fungi (sorghum grains disease)	•Aqueous extract obtained by maceration of O. europaea leaf and C. annuum fruit were found effective in reducing incidence of seed-borne fungi.	[45]
•Eucalyptus globulus (leaves) •Calotropis procera (leaves) •Melia azedarach (leaves) •Datura stramonium (leaves) •Acalypha indica (leaves)	• Alternaria alternata • Rhizopus spp. • Mucor spp. • Fusarium moniliforme • Aspergillus flavus • Aspergillus niger • Penicillium spp. • Drechslera australiensis • Curvularia lunata • Cladosporium spp. • Stemphylium spp. •Ulocladiumspp. (barley seeds disease)	•The results revealed that aqueous extracts of all plants significantly inhibited the mycelial growth of A. alternata in an in vitro assay using poisoned food technique. •Leaf extract of E. globulus at 20% concentration caused highest inhibition of mycelial growth of A. alternata (52.6%) followed by C. procera (50.88%), M. azedarach (48.21%) and D. stramonium (47.42%), whereas the lowest inhibition (37.52) of mycelial growth was recorded at 5% leaf extract concentration in case of A. indica. •Seed treatment at 20% concentration of all the tested plant extracts was also found to be effective in eliminating majority of fungi and reducing the relative frequency of seed-borne fungi occurring on the seeds and also resulted in percent germination increase in both standard blotter and agar plate methods.	[46]
•Alpinia galangal (rhizomes) •Curcuma longa (rhizomes) •Zingiber officinale (rhizomes)	•P. oryzae (rice blast disease)	•In in vitro assay, A. galangal hexane crude extract exhibited strong inhibitory effect against P. oryzae with the highest percentage of inhibition (52.9%), followed by C. longa hexane crude extract with 49.1% and Z. officinale methanol crude extract with 43.5% inhibition.	[47]
•Combretum erythrophyllum (leaves) •Quercus acutissima (leaves) •Melia azedarach (leaves)	• Fusarium proliferatum • F. oxysporum • F. subglutinans • F. verticilloides • F. semitectum • F. chlamydosporum • F. solani • F. equisite •F. graminearum (maize seeds spoilage)	•In in vivo assay, M. azedarach acetone extract obtained by ultrasonic extraction showed strong antifungal activity (97% inhibition) against F. proliferatum while combined acetone extracts from C. erythrophyllum and Q. acutissima exhibited 96%, 67% and 56% inhibition against F. verticilloides, F. proliferatum and F. solani, respectively.	[48]
•Saposhnikovia divaricata (roots) •Allium sativum (bulb) •Juglans regia (green husks)	•Embellisia astragali (Standing milkvetch yellow dwarf and root-rot)	•In in vitro assay using poisoned food technique, extracts of the three plants obtained by 95% ethanol totally inhibited mycelial growth of E. astragali and significantly inhibited spore germination with inhibition rates ranging from 86% to 88%.	[49]
•Vitis vinifera (leaves) •Zizyphus spina-christi (leaves) •Punica granatum (leaves) •Ficus carica (leaves)	•Botrytis fabae (chocolate spot disease of broad bean)	•In in vitro assay, the methanol extract of Z. spina-christi leaves obtained by maceration had the greatest inhibitory effect on mycelial growth of B. fabae by 95.56% at 4 mg/mL. •Also, extract of P. granatum caused remarkable reduction on the fungal growth (94.44%) of B. fabae at 4 mg/mL, while F. carica extract caused 91.11% inhibition against the same fungus at the same concentration.	[33]
•Morinda citrifolia (fruits and leaves)	• Phakopsora pachyrhizi •Colletotrichum truncatum (Asian rust and anthracnose diseases of soybean leaf)	•Foliar application of aqueous extracts and essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation did not differ from fungicide in Asian rust and anthracnose control in in vivo experiments.	[50]
•Ipomoea batatas (leaves) •Carica papaya (leaves) •Allium sativum (bulbs) •Syzygium cordatum (fruits) •Chlorophytum comosum (whole plant) •Agapanthus caulescens (whole plant)	• Colletotrichum lindemuthianum •Colletotrichum dematium (bean and cowpea anthracnose)	•Extracts of the listed plants were active on both fungi in in vitro assay and effectively reduced the incidence and severity of bean and cowpea anthracnose disease in the greenhouse (in vivo assay).	[51]
• Ageratum conyzoides • Amaranthus spinosus • Cyperus rotundus	Puccinia arachidis (peanut rust disease)	•Applications of 5% A. conyzoides and 5% C. rotundus methanol extracts obtained by maceration suppressed the spore germinations by 78–80% and 76–80%, respectively in in vitro assay. •A. conyzoides extract also suppressed the germination and the growth of rust disease in greenhouse experiments (in vivo assay).	[52]
•Vernonia amydgalina (leaves) •Azadirachta indica (leaves)	• Candida spp. • Pythium spp. • Rhizopus stolonifera • Trichoderma spp. •Aspergillus niger (seed-borne fungal disease of cowpea)	•Aqueous extract obtained by maceration of A. indica had better inhibitory effect on Pythium spp. in in vitro assay at concentrations of 1.95 mg/mL and 1.43 mg/mL. •V. amydgalina at 1.45 mg/mL inhibited A. niger and C. spp. by 83.75% and 87.5% respectively.	[53]