Evidence of antifungal activity of wild rue (Peganum harmala L.) on phytopathogenic fungi

Numerous fungicide applications are often needed to control fungal plant pathogens, and consequently there is an increasing demand for alternative means to control them. Natural plant products are one of the most important alternatives which do not have any indiscriminate hazardous effects like synthetic products. In the present study, antifungal properties of water soluble, ethanolic and methanolic extracts taken from leaves, floral tissues, and seeds of wild rue (Peganum harmala L.) were tested on the mycelial growth and spore germination of Phytophthora drechsleri, Verticillium dahliae, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Cladosporium cucumerinum, Corynespora cassiicola, Alternaria sp., Ulocladium sp., Botrytis cinerea, Monosporascus cannonballus, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis, Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizoctonia solani and Trichoderma harzianum. The water soluble extracts caused a significant decrease in the mycelial growth of the majority of fungi tested with maximum activity detected for seed extracts. Additionally, water soluble seed extract inhibited spore germination of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis. This study demonstrated the antifungal activity of P. harmala extracts on phytopathogenic fungi which can be used as an alternative for chemical compounds.