Fungistatic potential of Euphorbia hirta L. against the cause of anthracnose

摘要

The present study was intended to evaluate the antifungal potential of Euphorbia hirta L. against the causal agent of anthracnose disease of mango i.e. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz. Different concentrations of methanolic extract (1.5 - 3%) of E. hirta were tested in vitro against the test fungus and all these extract concentrations caused significant decrease in the colony diameter of C. gloeosporioides. However, 2.5% extract caused maximum (28%) reduction in radial growth of the test fungus. Phytochemical analysis of methanolic extract of E. hirta indicated the presence of glycosides, flavonoids, alkaloids, phlobatannins, tannins and coumarins. This methanolic extract was further partitioned between n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. In vitro bioassays of these isolated organic fractions were performed and chloroform fraction was found to be the most effective. This effective fraction was then analyzed by GC-MS and linoleic acid, oleic acid and stearic acid were found as the major constituents. The antifungal activity of chloroform fraction of E. hirta against C. gloeosporioides might be attributed to the presence of these compounds.