The conidia of Mycosphaerella fijiensis the causal agent of black sigatoka in banana (Musa spp.) can be disseminated over long distances when attached to substrates like cloth and boxes. The aim of this work was to select of effective chemicals for inhibiting conidial germination. The chemicals tested were benomyl, ammonium quaternary, digluconate of chlorhexidine, formaldehyde, pepper essential oil, Ecolife-40, thiabendazol and sodium hypochloride, using the concentrations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/l for each one. For each concentration tested, 1 ml of a conidial suspension (10(5) conidia/ml) of M. fijiensis isolate LPM472 grown on PDA for the tests, was transferred into test tubes filled with 1 ml of the above chemicals. After 30 h of incubation at room temperature, 100 conidia were observed using light microscope and only germinated conidia were counted. The results show that germination was completely inhibited by ammonium quaternary, benomyl, Ecolife-40 and thiabendazol at 100 mg/l. The same chemicals were also effective when fruits collected from an infected area, were treated by pulverization or immersion techniques (100 and 200 mg/l).
