Antifungal activity of Poncirus trifoliata roots against Colletotrichum species

Authors: Meepagala, Kumudini; Tamang, Prabin

Submitted to: Agricultural Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/2023
Publication Date: 5/8/2023
Citation: Meepagala, K.M., Tamang, P. 2023. Antifungal activity of Poncirus trifoliata roots against Colletotrichum species. Agricultural Sciences. https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2023.143022.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2023.143022

Interpretive Summary: Fruits and vegetables are essential for a balanced diet providing humans with vitamins, phytonutrients, and minerals. However, these fresh fruits and vegetables are vulnerable to diseases caused by several pathogens. These pathogens can cause significant quantitative and qualitative loss from harvest to consumption during the handling and storage process. Chemical fungicides are commonly used for managing losses from these pathogens but due to the high chance of their residual amounts on produce, mainly in short shelf life produce such as berries, they become unsuitable for human consumption. Therefore, identifying eco-friendly methods to control these post-harvest diseases is of utmost importance. The presence of fungicidal constituents in the roots of Poncirus trifoliata extracts was detected. The fungicidal constituents were isolated and identified and the activity of these compounds was moderate to weak compared to the commercial fungicide captan. This study reports the isolation and identification of natural compounds from Poncirus trifoliata that exhibited antifungal activity against two major postharvest pathogens.

Technical Abstract: Fruits and vegetables are essential diets that provide humans with vitamins, phytonutrients, and minerals. However, these fresh fruits and vegetables are vulnerable to post-harvest diseases caused by several fungal and bacterial pathogens. These pathogens can cause significant quantitative and qualitative loss from harvest to consumption during the handling and storage process. Chemical fungicides are a commonly used method but due to the high chances of their residuals on the produce, mainly in short shelf life produces like berries are unsuitable for human consumption. Therefore, identifying eco-friendly methods to control the post-harvest disease is of utmost importance. The presence of antifungal constituents in the roots of Poncirus trifoliata extracts was detected by thin layer chromatography-based bioautography. The active constituents were isolated and identified by bioautography assay guided fractionation by flash chromatography followed by spectroscopic techniques. Xanthoxyletin, demethylsuberosin, dentatin, nordentatin, ponfolin and clausarin were isolated from the root extracts. The antifungal activity of these compounds was moderate to weak compared to the commercial fungicide captan. This study reports the isolation and identification of natural compounds from Poncirus trifoliata that exhibited antifungal activity against Colletotrichum fragariae and Botrytis cinerea, two major post-harvest pathogens.