摘要：Fungal phytopathogens adversely affect crop yield and quality, world over. At present these pathogens are being combated by commercial fungicides, but all these agrochemicals accompany numerous health hazards. At present search for ecofriendly fungicides from natural flora is very promising. In the current study, organic solvent extracts(OSE)of Calotropis procera leaves were assayed on Fusarium oxysporum, the cause of Fusarium wilt in numerous crops. OSE were made in methanol (CH3OH), n-hexane (CH14), chloroform(CHCls) and ethyl acetate(C4HsO2). Antifungal efficacy was assessed by using a 5-25 mg/mL OSE concentrations. Mancozeb and dimethyl sulfoxide were taken as positive and negative controls, respectively. Various OSE significantly inhibited the fungal growth as CH3OH, C。H14, CHCl: and C4HO2 OSE of C.procera leaves significantly arrested the fungal growth by 70, 94. 80, and 86%, at the highest concentrations of all extracts, respectively. The C6H14 OSE was found the most active, therefore the lipophilic contents were characterized by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). Two main compounds namely cis-9-Hexadecenal with peak area 39.82%and lupeol with area 17.72%, were detected along with other compounds having minor peak areas. It was concluded that the antifungal activity detected during the present examination may be due to these molecules.
