Evaluation of Biocidal Activity of the members of Amaryllidaceae (Onion, Garlic and Leek) against some storage fungi and their molecular Characterization

Abstract

Amaryllidaceae family is a tropical to wartn temperate perennial bulbous or rarely rhizomatous family. Onion and garlic are among the premium members of this family. India stands third in the production of onion and garlic. The present study was undertaken keeping the biocidal activity of Amaryllidaceae members in mind and assessing their potential as antifungal agent against some storage fungi and also to study the genetic diversity existing among Amaryllidaceae members as this diversity may affect their antifungal nature. Bulbs of onion (dark red, pink, purple, white and spring onion) and garlic were used for the preparation of aqueous and ethanolic extracts and were subjected to a preliminary phytochemical analysis. Fungi were isolated from ten different varieties of fruits and vegetables and were identified. Once the pure cultures were obtained, inhibitory effect of these extracts was tested on these cultures using poisoned food technique, disc diffusion technique, agar well assay and minimal inhibition assay. All the extracts showed antifungal activity with the variation in their inhibition potential. Genetic diversity existing among Allium varieties was also studied using 10 random primers. The RAPD analysis was done using NTSYS - pc software that generated a similarity matrix on the basis of which a dendrogram was prepared. On the analysis of the dendrogram, it was found that the varieties used to study genetic diversity could be clustered into two clusters one being of garlic and white onion and the other including the rest of the varieties. The results obtained points toward the antifungal nature of these extracts and provide an insight that these extracts can be exploited for developing an effective biocide which will be in hat rnony with nature.