Académique Documents
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Culture Documents
29 (2):571-573
(571) ISSN 0973-6913 (Print), ISSN 0976-3384 (On Line)
Neem is very common tree in India. It is a large evergreen the great potential of bioactive compounds and is useful for
dense tree growing some 10 to 15 meter tall with a girth of rationalizing the use of this plant in primary health care4. Almost
about 2-3 meter. The leaves of this are divided into numerous every part of the tree has been in use since ancient times to
leaflets, each resembling a full grown leaf. The Neem tree has treat a number of human ailments and also as a household
played an important role in Ayurvedic medicines and agriculture pesticide5.
since time immemorial. The earliest documentation of Neem
MATERIAL AND METHODS
mentioned the fruit, seeds, oil, leaves, roots and bark for their
medicinal properties. Fungal diseases of crop plants have 1. Collection of raw materials and preparation of extracts:
always been one of the major constraints in successful crop Mature leaves were collected separately from Azadirachta
production which causes severe yield loss every year. indica plants. For antifungal and secondary metabolite studies,
Injudicious use of synthetic fungicides for controlling plant fresh leaves were collected. Collected fresh leaves of A. indica
diseases have given rise to negative effects on human and were washed thoroughly in tap water and sterile distilled water,
animal health and agro-ecosystem. air-dried at 27°C, weighted and ground in a sterile mortar. The
pastes was added to 100ml of sterile distilled water in 250 ml
The Meliaceae specially neem contains at least 35 biologically
beaker, stirred vigorously and allow to stand for 1 hour and
active principles of which nimbin and azadirachtin are the
then filtered through four folds of sterile cheese cloth to obtain
most active insecticidal ingredients and are present
water extract.
predominantly in the seeds, leaves and other parts of the neem
tree. A. indica, a common medicinal plant that could be 2. Determination of antimicrobial activity: Potato dextrose
exploited as the source of a potent biocide that has immense agar (PDA) slants at 40C. For evaluation of in vitro antifungal
fungicidal effect against several fungal pathogens including activity of the biocide (plant extract of Azadirachta indica) the
Aspergillus and Rhizopus1. Similarly, aqueous extract of neem phyto-extracts were added to Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA)
extract have potential to inhibit powdery mildew and ability to medium in different concentrations (0.1%;0.5% and 1%) in
induce systemic resistance in pea and balsam 2. Azadirachta separate sterilized petri plates. Each plate was inoculated
indica is commonly used for the treatment of Diabetes and with a mycelial disc taken from 7-day-old culture raised on
show the potential role of anti diabetic activity3. Azadirachta PDA. The inoculated plates were incubated at 30 ±1°C and
indica leaves possessed good anti fungal activity, confirming the diameter of colony of the pathogen was measured in each
NAAS Rating (2016)-4.20
Table-1.Comparative view showing the effect of Neem extract on different fungal species.
Workers observed that 0.25% dose of neem extract had more vitro study suggested a potential inhibitory effect of neem leaf
inhibitory effect in Alternaria brassicae compare to A. solani7. extracts against growth and viability of Alternaria alternata, A.
They also proved that plant extract had antifungal effect on A. brassicae and A. solani. Plant may be further investigated for
flavus, A. glaucus, Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, their anti -fungal properties under in vivo conditions.
Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T. rubrun. Plant extact
REFERENCES
0.35% concentration was most significntly effective towards
all tested fungi. At this concentration, the inhibition in mycelial 1. Mondali, N. K., Mojumdar, A., Chatterje, S. K., Banerjee, A., Datta,
growth was 24.29% against A. brassicae, 9.26% for A. J. K. and Gupta, S. (2009). J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Mgmt., 13(1):
alternata and only 6.24% for A. solani. It was also examined 49.
that plant extract has inhibitory effect on fungi. The maximum 2. Singh, U. P., Maurya, S. Singh, A. and Gohain, L. (2010). Archives
of Phytopathology and Plants Protection, 43(11): 1056.
antifungal activity of plant extract was observed in acetone
3. Mankala, S. K. and Kannappan, Nagappan (2011). Jr. of Appl.
extract against fungi. According to this study, neem extract
Pharmaceutical Sci., 7: 100.
showed strong antifungal activity at 0.35% concentration, more
4. Saradhajyothi, Koona, Subbarao and Budida (2011). Nat. Sci.
work should also be carried out on neem to reveal some of its
Biol., 31: 65.
potentials. 5. Chattopadhyay, R.R., Chattopadhyay, R.N. and Maitra, S.K. (1993).
On the basis of the results obtained during the experiment Indian Jr. Pharm., 25: 99.
6. Bajwa, R. and Shafique, S. (2007). Mycopath., 5(1): 5.
and reports of success of botanical on controlling plant
7. Coopoosamy, R.M. and Magwa, M.L. (2007). African Jr. of
pathogenic fungi, the test organic aqueous extracts hold
Biotechnology, 6(20): 2406.
promise for the organic and ecofriendly management of foliar
8. Hassanein, N.M., Abou Zeid, M.A., Youssef, I.F. and Mahmoud
diseases caused by the pathogens under field conditions. In
(2008). Austr. Jr. Basic Applied Sci., 2: 763.