ANTI-FUNGAL ACTIVITY OF GINGER EXTRACT

ABSTRACT

This research work was done to study the antifungal activity of fresh ginger ethanol extract at different concentrations determining its zone of inhibition against the test organism. Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophthora capsici fungi were isolated from diseased okra gotten from a local market in Uselu, Benin City, which was used for the course of this study. The ginger extract at 25mg/ml, 50mg/ml and 100mg/ml concentrations were compared to an antibiotic used as positive control and distilled water as a negative control to determine its efficacyagainst the isolated Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophthora capsici. The activity of the fresh ginger ethanol extract evaluated at 100 mg/ml concentration against Rhizoctonia solani appeared to have greater effect than in Phytophthora capsici fungus, although the 100 mg/ml against both organisms demonstrated significant antifungal activities. The lowest concentration (25 mg/ml) of extract used to treat Rhizictonia solani, inhibited the fungus more effectively with a larger diameter mean zone of inhibition (0.95cm±1.29cm), than a higher concentration of 50 mg/ml (0.55cm±1.29cm). The lowest concentration (25mg/ml) of ginger extract used to treat Phyophthora capsici had a smaller diameter mean zone of inhibition (0.20cm±0.91cm) than 50mg/ml (0.43cm±1.02cm) and 100mg/ml (0.87cm±1.04cm) concentrations. This study demonstrated that the fresh ginger ethanol extract used at 25mg/ml, 50mg/ml and 100mg/ml concentrations, produced effective antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani      and      Phytophthora  capsici.