ABSTRACT
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an oceanic macrophyte and one of the worst sea-going weeds in the world and Egypt. The grouping of substantial metals in water hyacinth was higher in roots than in shoots. Nutrient content e.g. ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and phosphate was higher in the shoots of water hyacinth. Water hyacinth is a wellspring of phytochemicals which have a medicinal function. In this study, the high degree of peroxidation and nonenzymatic antioxidant systems were detected in leaf extracts. The chemical analysis of the leaf extracts was performed using acetone, ethanol, methanol and n-Butyl alcohol. The fractionated extracts showed the presence of some medicine compounds that include phenols, protein, alkaloids, amino acids, carbohydrate, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, and terpenoids. The fractionated extracts were screened for antimicrobial and antifungal activities. The leaf extracts of E. crassipes exhibited antimicrobial activities against some bacteria: Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Lactobacillus casei and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and antifungal activity against six pathogenic fungi i.e. Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Candida albicans, and Fusarium solani by using the well diffusion method. Streptomycin and Fluconazole were used as a standard as antimicrobial and antifungal agents, respectively. B. subtilis, F. solani, C. gloeosporioides and A. alternata were the most susceptible to plant extracts. The most effective antifungal and antimicrobial agent against some plant pathogens was the n-Butyl alcohol extract. Also, it reduced the production of mycotoxin e.g. Aflatoxin B1 and Ochratoxin A. The application of the formulation of the plant extract of E. crassipes protected wheat plants against net blotch diseases. The results indicated that the leaf extractsof E. crassipes have potential as biofungicides and can be used in the industry.
Keywords:
antifungal and antimicrobial; biofungicide; Eichhornia crassipes; leaf extracts