Fungicidal activity of Thai medicinal plant extracts against <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alternaria brassicicola</Emphasis> causing black spot of Chinese kale

Crude ethanol extracts and six organic solvent fractions of 10 Thai medicinal plants were evaluated for their antifungal activity against Alternaria brassicicola in laboratory and under greenhouse conditions. The results showed that the ethanol extracts of Coscinium fenestratum, Piper betle, Syzygium aromaticus and Zingiber cassumunar displayed complete mycelial growth inhibition of A. brassicicola at a concentration of 0.1%. Meanwhile, the crude ethanol extract and methanol fraction obtained from the stems of C. fenestratum revealed the greatest inhibition against A. brassicicola at 10%, forming inhibition zones 2.55–2.58 cm in diameter. In the greenhouse experiments, crude ethanol extracts of C. fenestratum and P. betle at 1% significantly (P?<?0.05) reduced the disease incidence at up to 67%, indicating promising preventive and curative activities against A. brassicicola. This activity is similar to that of iprodione, a widely used commercial fungicide. Interestingly, Illicium verum extract showed a greater curative effect (58% disease reduction) than protective effect (47% disease reduction). Because the C. fenestratum extract showed the highest activity against the black spot pathogen both in vitro and under greenhouse conditions, its methanol fraction was further analyzed by spectroscopic techniques. We found that berberine is a key active substance inhibiting mycelial growth of A. brassicicola. The results of this study showed the potential of Thai medicinal plants as alternatives to the use of synthetic fungicides for controlling black spot in Chinese kale caused by A. brassicicola.