Morphological characterization of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causing fruit rot of papaya and its management using biopesticides

Abstract

Papaya is an important fruit crop and susceptible to several post-harvest diseases at every stage of its life cycle. Papaya fruit rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is a serious postharvest disease that results in significant losses both in storage and on the market. Papaya fruit that was gathered from several Lahore fruit marketplaces was the subject of the studies. Based on physical and cultural traits, diseased papaya fruits were separated and identified. The virus developed mycelial colonies on PDA media that were sparse and creamy white. These colonies ultimately became fluffy and light brown. Sclerotia began to appear after three days of mycelial growth, and after seven days, they were fully visible in the shape of rings or distributed across the mycelial surface of the Petri plate. This allowed for the calculation of the frequency of isolated fungi. It was recorded maximum percentage of S. sclerotiorum (58%) was recorded followed by Alternaria alternata (21.5 %) and Aspergillus niger (10.0 %), while Penicillum spp. was least isolated fungi with a mean value of 5.00%. The assessment of different plant extracts including (Cascabela thevetia, Euphorbia milii, Moringa oleifera, Plumeria rubra, Quisqualis indica, Syzygium aromaticum) was done with Agar Well Diffusion Technique under CRD design. The findings showed that of the medicinal plants that were extracted using methanol and ethanol, Moringa oleifera and Syzygium aromaticum showed significant results at higher concentrations and showed maximum zone of inhibition while Cascabela thevetia was least effective against S. sclerotiorum.