In Vitro and In Vivo Inhibition of Plant Pathogenic Fungi by Essential Oil and Extracts of Magnolia liliflora Desr.

This study was carried out to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo antifungal efficacy of essential oil and extracts derived from the flower and leaves of Magnolia liliflora, respectively, against plant pathogenic fungi. The oil (۷۵۰ μg disc-۱) and various leaf extracts such as hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol (۱,۵۰۰ μg disc-۱) revealed promising antifungal effects against Botrytis cinerea KACC ۴۰۵۷۳, Colletotrichum capsici KACC ۴۰۹۷۸, Fusarium oxysporum KACC ۴۱۰۸۳, Fusarium solani KACC ۴۱۰۹۲, Phytophthora capsici KACC ۴۰۱۵۷, Rhizoctonia solani KACC ۴۰۱۱۱ and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum KACC ۴۱۰۶۵ as radial growth inhibition percentages of ۳۸ to ۶۵.۶% and ۷.۶ to ۵۷.۳%, respectively along with their respective MIC and MFC values ranging from (۱۲۵ to ۵۰۰ and ۱۲۵ to ۱۰۰ μg mL-۱) and (۵۰۰ to ۴,۰۰۰ and ۵۰۰ to ۸,۰۰۰ μg mL-۱). The oil had a strong detrimental effect on spore germination of all tested plant pathogens as well as concentration and time-dependent kinetic inhibition of P. capsici KACC۴۰۱۵۷. Also the oil displayed potent in vivo antifungal effect against one of the selected plant pathogens P. capsici KACC ۴۰۱۵۷ on greenhouse-grown pepper plants. The results of this study indicate that the flower oil and leaf extracts of M. liliflora could be used as natural alternatives to synthetic fungicides to control the in vitro and in vivo growth of certain important plant pathogenic fungi.

Keywords:

Antifungal activity , Essential oil , Leaf extracts , Magnolia liliflora , Plant pathogenic fungi