Evaluation of antifungal activity of Shirazi thyme and Chavil extracts on Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici, the causal agent of tomato wilt under laboratory and greenhouse conditions

Fusarium wilt is one of the most important diseases of tomato plants. Because of the environmental hazards of chemical pesticides, it is necessary to use the non-chemical and natural methods to control the plant pests and pathogens. This study was performed to assess the possibility of replacing chemical fungicide with plant extracts. The antifungal effect of two plant extracts from Shirazi thyme, Zataria multiflora and Chavil, Ferulago angulata on the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici was studied in the laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Concentrations of 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 percent of aqueous extracts of the mentioned plants were added to PDA medium and water treatment without extract was used as control. The inhibitory effect of the aqueous extract of dried aerial parts of the plants on fungus grown on PDA medium was studied in vitro. Results showed that the extracts of both plants have an inhibitory effect on the growth of the fungus. Leaf extract of Z. multiflora at the concentration of 1.2% was more effective than that of F. angulata. In greenhouse experiments, the inhibitory effect of the plant extracts was evaluated in a completely randomized design with 12 treatments, based on the factorial Ishikawa pattern. In this experiment, leaf extract of Z. multiflora at the rates of 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2% and leaf and flower extracts of F. angulata each at the rate of 1.2% were best treatments.