Standardization of detection methods for seed borne fungi in sesame

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to detect the seed borne mycoflora associated with 28 seed samples of sesame collected from farmers and different research stations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A total of seven fungal species belonging to six genera were found to be associated with the seed of sesame indicating their seed borne nature. Detection of seed mycoflora revealed that the mean incidence of Alternaria sesami was highest (31.44%) followed by Aspergillus flavus (16.85%) and Aspergillus niger (16.03%), while the mean incidence of Helminthosporium sp. was found to be the lowest (4.82%). Among the six methods employed for detection of seed mycoflora, standard blotter method was found to be superior and recorded maximum fungal colonies (31.48%) in all the 28 samples, while the minimum number was observed in water agar method (9.50%).