Although weeds are known to be detrimental for agricultural crops however, they also possess medicinal properties against various diseases and infections including fungi. Hence, selected weeds can be useful as eco-friendly medicinal candidates for plant disease control. In this study, we examined the anti-fungal efficacy of leaf extracts of 25 commonly found weeds against Alternaria species. Out of 25 plants screened, leaf extract of Lantana camara, Parthenium hysterophorus and Xanthium stromonium inhibited germination of spores by more than 70 % in Alternaria solani, Alternaria brassicae and Alternaria alternata. The minimum inhibition (33.3%) in spore germination of above 3 species of Alternaria was noted in leaf extract of Phyllanthus niruri. Further, leaf extract of Ageratum conyzoides, Argemone mexicana, Calotropis procera, Malva sylvestris, Nicotiana plebignifolea, Rumex dentatus and Solanum xanthocarpum inhibited spore germination of all the pathogenic species of Alternaria in the range of 60.15 % to 67.35 %. Thus, these plants can be effectively used for minimizing disease intensity caused by Alternaria species in different crop plants.
Key words: Leaf extracts, spore germination, pathogenic Alternaria species.
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