జర్నల్ ఆఫ్ ప్లాంట్ పాథాలజీ & మైక్రోబయాలజీ

నైరూప్య

Mycological Quality of Noni (Morinda citrifolia) Foliar Infection and Susceptibility to a Novel agent

Amadi Lawrence O*, Seth Mercy O

Foliar infection of Noni poses a great challenge to farmers, microbiologists and phytopathologists despite the broad spectrum of bioactive and therapeutic potentials of the plant. This study investigates the mycological quality of Noni foliar infection and susceptibility to a novel agent (Alum). The mycological quality was assessed by culture-dependent technique using standard mycological procedures and susceptibility of isolates determined by disc and agar well diffusion methods and inhibition zones (IZs) were measured in millimetre. Fungi identified include Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger and Penicillium species. Relative abundance (%) of fungal species in foliar infection were A. fumigatus (75%) being the most abundant followed by A. niger and A. flavus (50%) respectively and Penicillium (25%) species. Susceptibility assay of these species indicated that Alum compared appreciably with Ketoconazole (control) on dose-dependent fashion by both techniques. Data revealed that A. flavus (36.0 mm), A. fumigatus (32.5 mm) and Penicillium (30.2 mm) were the most susceptible and the least was A. niger (30.0 mm) with the novel agent. This research concludes that Alum could be used as an alternative cost-effective and ecofriendly novel or natural treatment agent to foliar related diseases or infections.