Revolutionizing Agriculture: Synergistic Antifungal Activity of Medicinal Plant Extracts against soil-borne phytopathogenic fungi

A study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of various natural plant extracts on soil fungi, particularly targeting phytopathogenic and mycotoxigenic species Alternaria alternata, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Penicillium citrinum, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium metavorans, Fusarium solani and Aspergillus aflatoxiformans , were used in the present study. In vitro studies were carried out to evaluate the antifungal activity of three plant extracts performed both in aqueous and methanolic solutions. The findings indicated that the plant extracts exhibited robust antifungal activity, resulting in significant inhibition of mycelial growth across all tested fungi compared to the control. The extracts from Phytolacca acinosa and Atropa acuminata demonstrated the highest effectiveness in inhibiting the mycelial growth of the tested fungi, whereas Salix alba exhibited comparatively lower efficacy. The findings of this study validate the potential of plant extracts as natural fungicides for controlling pathogenic fungi, there by reducing dependence on synthetic fungicides. However, the extracts from Phytolacca acinosa and Atropa acuminata , identified as the most efficient, hold promise as potential agents for controlling these pathogenic fungi.