Phytochemical Investigation of Medicinal Plant Showing Antifungal Activity Against Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum capsici (Syd.) Butler and Bisby

The effective medicinal plant extracts of Polygala elata, Datura metel, Azadirachta indica and bulb extract of Allium sativum at 10 per cent were increased total phenols content and increased activity of enzymes such as phenylalanine ammonia lyase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase which are involved in plant defense mechanism against Colletotrichum capsici causing anthracnose of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.). The leaf extract of P. elata and D. metel showed strong fungicidal properties against the fungus in vitro. The leaf extracts of P. elata and D. metel contained alkaloids and steroids, in addition to these D. metel contains tannins. Where as, A. indica containedflavonoids, glycosides tannins and saponins, bulb extract of A. sativum contained only the tannins and saponins. These groups of active principle present in medicinal plant extracts to be fungitoxicity against the pathogen. Plant extracts have been demonstrated to possess excellent fungicidal properties in recent years by the increased enzymes activities like total phenol, PO, PPO and PAL. These are safe to the ecological situations due to bio degradability and least harmful to the beneficial organisms.