ABSTRACT
Chenopodium album, leaves were selected to evaluate their antifungal potential against Ascochyta rabiei causative agent for chickpea blight. Different concentrations of methanolic extract of C. album leaves i.e. 1%, 2.5%, 4%, 5.5% and 7% were tested against the target fungus A. rabiei. Maximum reduction in the test fungal biomass (68%) was observed in 7% concentration. This methanolic leaf extract was partitioned and n-butanol, chloroform, n-hexane, ethyl acetate fractions were isolated according to their polarity. In vitro antifungal activity of these fractions was studied by serial dilution method. n-hexane fraction exhibited the highest antifungal potential with 55% inhibition in test fungal biomass, so this fraction was selected for Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Total thirteen compounds identified in this analysis belonged to class aromatic hydrocarbons, hydrocarbons, saturated fatty acids, aromatic carboxylic acid, siloxanes, phosphonates and cardiac glycosides. These compounds might be responsible for antifungal activity of C. album.
Keywords:
antifungal potential; bathu; GC-MS; methanolic extract
