Antifungal Activity of Essential Oil and Extracts of Piper chaba Hunter Against Phytopathogenic Fungi

The efficacy of the essential oil and various leaf extracts of Piper chaba Hunter was evaluated for controlling the growth of some important phytopathogenic fungi. The hydrodistilled essential oil was analysed by GC–MS. Fifty-three compounds representing 95.1% of the total oil were identified, of which α-humulene (16.4%), caryophyllene oxide (12.2%), viridiflorol (8.1%), globulol (7.4%), β-selinene (7.1%), spathulenol (6.2%), (E)-nerolidol (5.1%), linalool (4.5%) and 3-pentanol (3.5%) were the major compounds. The oil (1,000 ppm) and organic extracts (1,500 ppm) of P. chaba Hunter displayed a great potential of antifungal activity as a growth inhibition against the tested phytopathogenic fungi, Fusarium oxysporum KACC 41083, Phytophthora capsici KACC 40157, Colletotrichum capsici KACC 410978, Fusarium solani KACC 41092 and Rhizoctonia solani KACC 40111 in the range of 55.1–70.3% and minimum inhibitory concentration ranging from 125 to 500 μg/ml. The oil had also a strong detrimental effect on spore germination of all the tested fungi along with concentration as well as time-dependent kinetic inhibition of P. capsici. The results obtained from this study may contribute to the development of new antifungal agents to protect crops from fungal diseases.