Antifungal Activity of Leaf Extract of Ficus Septica Against Colletotrichum Acutatum the Cause of Anthracnose Disease on Chili Pepper

Abstract

Antifungal activity of the leaf extract of Ficus septica Burm.F. was done against Colletotrichum acutatum.  the cause of anthracnose disease on chili pepper. The in vitro experiment was conducted on potato dextrose medium (PDA) and potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium. Fifteen levels of extract concentrations, ranged from 0.1 to 5% (w/v) were tested for determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) on PDA. Six levels of extract concentration (w/v) viz. 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% were tested using completely randomized design with four replications.  The antifungal activity was determined based on the effects of plant extract to the fungal growth, spore’s formation, spore’s germination and total biomass. Results of this study showed that the crude extract of F. septica obviously inhibited the growth of C. acutatum on PDA with MIC by 0.9% (w/v). Treatment with leaf extract of F. septica significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the fungal growth, spore’s formation, spore’s germination and fungal biomass of Colletotrichum spp.  The inhibitory activity for the colony radial growth, spore’s formation, spore’s germination, and fungal biomass were respectively ranged from 29.72 to 81.39%, 63.27 to 99.11%, 61.70 to 100% and 38.52 to 99.91%. This result suggested that the leaf extract of F. séptica contains the antifungal susbtances  that responsable for the antifungal activity, and this extract can be considered as one of alternative measures to control the anthracnose disease on chili pepper.

Keywords : anthracnose disease, antifungal activity, Colletotrchum spp., Ficus septica