~ 156 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2018; 7(6): 156-158 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2018; 7(6): 156-158 Received: 25-09-2018 Accepted: 27-10-2018 B Khamari Assistant professor, Department of Plant Pathology, IAS, SoA, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India C Patra Assistant Professor, Department of seed technology, IAS, SoA, Bhubaneswar, Odisha Correspondence B Khamari Assistant professor, Department of Plant Pathology, IAS, SoA, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Evaluation of antifungal potency of natural products against stem and root rot of sesame B Khamari and C Patra Abstract Stem and root rot is an important disease of sesame. To manage it in natural way, different oils of plant origin and several locally available oil cakes as well as manures were tested at different concentrations in vitro using poison food technique. Among different oils, Clove oil registered 100% mycelial inhibition at all concentrations followed by neem oil recording 72.57%, 81.86% and 80.66% and mustard oil registering 71.82%, 77.76% and 88.60% at 2%, 3% and 5% concentrations respectively. Among all organic products tested, extract of neem cake registered maximum growth inhition of 60%, 76.57% and 93.73% followed by Mustard cake (58.20%, 68.89%, 93.73%) and Mahua cake (51.53%,68.49%, 87.13%) at 3%, 4% and 5% concentrations respectively. The effectiveness of oils and organic products were dose dependent. Keywords: Macrophomina phaseolina, methanol, oils, organic products, sesame, stem and root rot Introduction Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an important edible oilseed crop grown in hotter and drier areas of tropical and subtropical regions. It is valued as quality food, nutrition, edible oil, bio- medicine and health care, all in one. Around 60-65 countries of the world produces sesame seed. China, India, Sudan, Myanmar, Uganda, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tanzania, Mexico, Thailand and Egypt are major producer of sesame. India is the world leader with the maximum production (25.8%) from the largest area (29.8%) and highest export (40%) in the world. India produces 870 thousand metric tons in fiscal year 2015-2016. Sesame is largely cultivated in the western, southern and eastern parts of India with productivity of 413 kg/ha (Annual report,2016-17, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India) [2] . Now days, area and production of sesame is declining in the traditional areas due to severe biotic stresses such as Bacterial blight, Macrophomina stem and root rot, Phyllody, Fusarium wilt, Powdery mildew, Alternaria leaf spot and Cercospora leaf spot. Among different biotic constraints, stem and root rot disease is a serious problem causing huge loss. Indiscriminate use of fungicides for managing diseases leads to resistance as well as leaves residues in environment and food products. As modern society is becoming more health-conscious, there is a constant need to develop newer and effective alternatives to chemicals. In that line, Oils of plant origin, oil cakes and animal products may act as inputs in organic food production, both in the field and in controlled environments. Present study was carried out to critically analyse the antifungal potency of different oils, oil cakes and manures against stem and root rot of sesame. Materials and Methods Pathogen culture The pathogen inciting stem and root rot disease was isolated from infected sesame plant and identified as Macrophomina phaseolina which is further confirmed by ITCC, IARI, New Delhi with ID No. 9811.15. Pathogen was grown in potato dextrose agar media and 5days old fresh culture was used for the studies. Materials used For testing efficacy of different oils, seven different oils of plant origin such as karanj, neem, eucalyptus, clove, sesame, olive and mustard oil were collected and tested in vitro. Different commonly available oilcake such as mustard cake, neem cake, sesame cake, karanj cake and mahua cake were collected from oil mills as well as from market. Poultry manure was collected from poultry farm and goat manure was collected from nearby Goat farm. The experiment was undertaken in Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, OUAT, Bhubaneswar.