Antifungal activity of various essential oils “in vitro” against Rhizoctonia solani causing sheath blight of rice Timsina Ashmita1, Thera Uday Kumar1,*, Phanindra PV1, Sowmya Vanama2 1Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, Uttar Pradesh, India 2Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad-500 030, Telangana, India. *Email: uday4g3@gmail.com; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3319-1339
Online Published on 30 July, 2022. Abstract Several pathogens directly impact rice productivity, in which sheath blight disease, caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, is among the most devastating pathogens causing disease in rice. The present study tested the antifungal activity of ten essential oils against R. solani in the 200 to 1000 ppm concentration range by radial assay following the poisoned food technique. The highest inhibitory effect on R. solani were recorded after 3 days in a treatment containing Syzygium aromaticum at a minimum concentration of 500 ppm, followed by Zingiber officinale and Cymbopogon nardus (600 ppm) and Ocimum citriodorum (700 ppm). Results revealed all the tested essential oils showed inhibitory effects against R. solani. This ability was dose-dependent. However, Pogostemon cablin and Chrysopogon zizanioides oils were less effective against R. solani at lower concentrations. Top Keywords Antifungal activity, Essential oils, Poisoned food technique, Sheath blight, Rhizoctonia solani, Rice. Top |