VIEW ARTICLE

Disease Control and Pest Management

Control of Fusarium Wilt of Safflower by Mangiferin. Shibnath Ghosal, Reader in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Departments of Pharmaceutics and Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-5, India; Kanika Biswas(2), Dilip K. Chakrabarti(3), and Kailash C. Basu Chaudhary(4). (2)(3)(4)Doctoral Research Students, and Reader in Plant Pathology, respectively, Departments of Pharmaceutics and Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-5, India. Phytopathology 67:548-550. Accepted for publication 29 September 1976. Copyright © 1977 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-67-548.

Antifungal activity of mangiferin, a naturally occurring xanthone-C-glucoside from Canscora decussata, against Fusarium oxysporum f. carthami was evaluated. Safflower seedlings grown from mangiferin-treated seeds in infested potting soil were protected for up to 2 wk from infection by three strains of the fungus known to cause wilting in safflower. Mangiferin caused lysis of hyphal cells in vitro and significantly retarded mycelial growth of the fungus. Production of fusaric acid, a normal metabolic product of this fungus, was prevented completely by mangiferin and a different amino acid that was produced was isolated and partially characterized.