ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF INVASIVE ALIEN PLANT SPECIES (IAPS)– IMPLICATION FOR MANAGEMENTA. DEVKOTA, A. SAHU AND R.K. DASAbstract The antifungal activity of aqueous and methanolic extract of six invasive alien plants species (IAPs) Ageratina adenophora, Ageratum houstonianum, Parthenium hysterophorus, Xanthium strumarium, Ipomoea carnea and Mikania micrantha was investigated against Alternaria brassicae, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum, Phytophthora capsici and Sclerotium rolfsii at different concentrations (5, 10, 15 , 20 and 25%). Methanolic extract of plant exhibited strong inhibitory effect than aqueous extract. At 25% maximum antifungal potential was observed with the Methanolic extracts of Ageratum houstonianum and Xanthium strumarium against F. oxysporum (100%), P. capsici (100%), S. rolfsii (100%), followed by A. adenophora, which recorded excellent inhibitory activity against F. oxysporum (100%) P. capsici (100 %) and S. rolfsii (73%). Likewise methanolic extract of I. carnea at 25%, recorded maximum inhibitory activity against F. oxysporum (100%) which was followed by A. brassicae (64.0%), extract of Parthenium hysterophorus had shown excellent inhibitory activity against Fusarium oxysporum (100%) and S. rolfsii (100%). Extract of Mikania micrantha exhibited inhibitory effect on B. cinerea (61.50%), followed by F. oxysporum (61.3%). Test revealed the presence of tannins, cardiac. glycosides, alkaloids, and flavanoids in all the tested extracts. This study demonstrated that all studied plant species could be used as a potential fungicides in plant disease management. Utilization of IAPs as antifungal agent, could be helpful for its management. |