Evaluation of common botanicals against Colletotrichum acutatum causing anthracnose disease of strawberry (Fragaria ananassa)

Abstract

Anthracnose is one of the most important fungal diseases of strawberry affecting almost all parts of the plant including leaves, petioles, runners, flower stalk and fruits. Chemicals are not encouraged to manage the disease as the fruit is consumed directly which may lead to various health hazards which demands for an eco-friendly alternative method of disease management. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the six promising botanicals viz. Hena, Holy basil, Garlic, Neem, Datura and Mint against the pathogen (C. acutatum) at different concentrations viz. 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% in vitro. Among all the botanicals, the aqueous extract of Datura (25%) resulted maximum inhibition (88.37%) of radial mycelial growth of C. acutatum over control followed by Garlic and Hena extract with 85.01% and 81.38% inhibition of radial mycelial growth of the fungus over control, respectively.