Vol. 9, Issue 1, Part F (2025)

This research explores the antifungal potential of Ammannia baccifera L. against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (FOC), using in vitro methodologies. Initially, aqueous extracts of eight plants viz., Solanum xanthocarpum, Ammannia baccifera, Clitoria ternatea, Cassia tora, Xanthium strumarium, Tridax procumbens and Achyranthes aspera were screened using poisoned food technique against FOC. Out of them, the highest percent growth inhibition was observed in case of A. baccifera (80.37%), followed by S. xanthocarpum (76.30%). Considering this, the crude extract of A. baccifera was further evaluated for an in vitro seed germination assay at a concentration of 0.5% along with the fungicide Thiophanate methyl (@ 3 g/kg seeds) for comparison. The highest germination (100%) and lowest percent disease incidence (20%) was observed in case of treatment with Thiophanate methyl followed by A. baccifera extract where germination percent was recorded as 99.17% and percent disease incidence was found to be 20.83%. both the treatments were statistically at par when compared with the control. These results show that the crude extract of A. baccifera can be a promising candidate in the avenue of natural fungicides.