Panama wilt stands first among all the major fungal diseases affecting banana, by which farmers are facing huge economic losses globally, which is caused by one of the deadly fungus, Fusarium oxysporum formal species cubense (Foc). Nanjungud rasabale, which has been given indication tag, is devastated by this fusarium wilt. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro biological control of Foc using some locally available medicinal plants such as Prosopis juliflora, Piper betle, Garcinia indica, Callistemon lanceolates, Azadirachta indica, Decalepis hamiltonii, and Combretum indicum. Soxhlet extraction of selected plants was done using methanol and antifungal activity was determined by poisoned food technique, agar well diffusion, and disk diffusion method. All the botanicals employed in the study reduced the mycelial growth of fungus in different concentrations at various levels. Among them, G. indica exhibited highest rank of antifungal activity against the tested plant pathogen Foc, thenceforth by P. betle. Results revealed that G. indica is a potential source of antifungal botanicals; therefore, substantial research is required to take out their active phytochemicals, thus providing a replacement to chemical fungicides and a possible alternative approach to contemporary management practices for Panama wilt of banana.
Key words: Banana, Panama disease, Plant extracts, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense(Foc), Antifungal.
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