ABSTRACT
The fungitoxic properties of ethanolic and aqueous leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica and Ocimum gratissimumused for the control of post-harvest fungal diseases ofSolanum melongenawere tested in vitrowith benlate serving as the standard fungicide and water as the bank control. Three fungal species,Aspergillus niger, Rhizoctonia solani and Mucor ramosissimuswere isolated from diseased S. melongena fruits kept at room temperature on laboratory tops for10 days. The fruits started showing signs of decay after 4 days of exposure. Growth on the fruits at the sites of the rot suggested the presence of fungal pathogens. Isolation and culturing of these pathogens gave the identified species as the causal agents. Pathogenicity test confirmed them as the causal organisms of the fruit rot. The three pathogens were treated with both ethanol and aqueous leaf extracts of the two plants at concentrations ranging from 25 to 100% and benlate at concentrations between 2.5 and 10.0%. Various concentrations of the extracts were added to prepared Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) media. The pathogens were inoculated separately into the PDA media and were incubated for eight days. Fungitoxic effects of these extracts on the mycelial growth of the pathogens were significant at P ≤ 0.05 for all treatments. The three pathogens were completely inhibited by the two plant extracts for both the aqueous and ethanolic extracts at 100% concentration. With respect to ethanolic extract, O. gratissimum was more efficient than A indica, but the reverse was the case with aqueous extracts. Ethanolic extracts were generally more effective than the aqueous extracts. Ethanolic leaf extract of O. gratissimum may be used to effectively control post-harvest fungal diseases of S. melongena.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Garden egg (Solanum melongena Linn) of the family Solanaceae (Obeng-Ofori et al., 2007) is a kind of fruit that is very important for man; as food, supplying some major nutrients, and as a source of bioactive ingredients militating against some diseases like diabetes mellitus and liver problems. It is also used for many other purposes among which are to achieve weight control within a short period, eliminate unnecessary salts in maintaining proper functioning of the heart, reduce the sugar content level in diabetics because of its low calorie and high fibre contents and reduce blood cholesterol (Aliyu, 2006). However, the damage caused by pests and microbes often constitute a great impediment to biomass productivity of this plant.
Terms of Use: This is an academic paper. Students should NOT copy our materials word to word, as we DO NOT encourage Plagiarism. Only use as a guide in developing your original research work. Thanks.
Disclaimer: All undertaking works, records, and reports posted on this website, eprojectguide.com are the property/copyright of their individual proprietors. They are for research reference/direction purposes and the works are publicly supported. Do not present another person’s work as your own to maintain a strategic distance from counterfeiting its results. Use it as a guide and not duplicate the work in exactly the same words (verbatim). eprojectguide.com is a vault of exploration works simply like academia.edu, researchgate.net, scribd.com, docsity.com, course hero, and numerous different stages where clients transfer works. The paid membership on eprojectguide.com is a method by which the site is kept up to help Open Education. In the event that you see your work posted here, and you need it to be eliminated/credited, it would be ideal if you call us on +2348064699975 or send us a mail along with the web address linked to the work, to eprojectguide@gmail.com. We will answer to and honor each solicitation. Kindly note notification it might take up to 24 – 48 hours to handle your solicitation.