Agricultural fungicidal effect of floral extracts of Bauhinia variegata, B. forficata and B. purpurea

Abstract

Bauhinia is a botanical genus widely distributed in parts of Asia and South America. The plant bears beautiful and aromatic flowers that add ornamental beauty to parks and gardens, in addition to being used in medicine and ayurverda. This study aimed to evaluate the floral ethanolic extract of B. variegata, B. forficata and B. purpurea in fungal inhibition against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum acutatum. Flowers were harvested in 2021 and 2022. The floral ethanolic extract was produced by the static maceration method. The antifungal activity was performed by the agar diffusion method at different extract s;concentrations. Bauhinia floral extracts showed a potential fungicidal effect on fungal species evaluated in particular for Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, followed by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum acutatum.