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VOL. 10, ISSUE 4 (2025)
In vitro fungitoxic efficacy of Melaleuca leucadendra essential oil against fungi isolated from stored finger millet
Authors
Shalini Gautam, Sanyogita Kumari, Ashok Kumar
Abstract
Finger millet or ragi (Eleusine coracana Gaertn.) is one of the
ancient millets of India and known for its nutritional composition & health
benefits. The study deals with the efficacy of Melaleuca leucadendra essential
oil (MLEO), against some storage fungi associated with grains of finger millet
during storage. The pH and percent moisture content of collected stored finger
millet grains were ranged as 6.40-6.46 and 9.61-9.68% respectively. During
mycological screening, total of 653 fungal isolates were recovered from three
different stored samples. The percent occurrence frequency of sample 3 was
found highest (40.73%) whereas, sample 1 exhibited the lowest (28.94%). The
highest cumulative percent relative density was recorded in Cladosporium sp.
(21.59%) followed by Aspergillus flavus (17.76%), A. niger (11.48%)
and unidentified fungi (11.10%) while lowest relative density was found in A.
fumigates (1.53%) followed by A. nidulans (1.68%) and A. terreus (1.99%).
The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of MLEO against toxigenic isolate A.
flavus DDUEC-4 was recorded at 10 µlml-1whereas, its aflatoxin B1
production was completely checked at 6.0 µlml-1. The MLEO also
showed broad spectrum fungitoxicity against 10 storage fungi recovered during
mycological analysis of finger millet grains. The prospects of exploitation of
MLEO as acceptable plant-based preservative in qualitative as well as
quantitative control of biodeterioration of stored finger millet grains have
been discussed.
Pages:13-17
How to cite this article:
Shalini Gautam, Sanyogita Kumari, Ashok Kumar "<i>In vitro</i> fungitoxic efficacy of <i>Melaleuca leucadendra </i>essential<i> </i>oil against fungi isolated from stored finger millet". International Journal of Biology Research, Vol 10, Issue 4, 2025, Pages 13-17
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