International Journal of Graduate Research and Review

1-8

Authors: Subash Subedi, Sundarman Shrestha and Arjun Kumar Shrestha, Sarswati Neupane and Jiban Shrestha

The efficacy of water extracts and essential oils of five locally available medicinal and aromatic plants viz. ginger (zingiber officinale Rosc), garlic (Allium sativum L.), lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus Stud), Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis L.) and holy basil (Ocimum sanctum Linn.) were in vitro evaluated against the fungus Penicillium digitatum Sacc. and the green mold disease of citrus fruits (in vivo) at central laboratory of IAAS, Rampur, Chitwan during the winter season of 2007. This experiment was conducted in completely randomized design with five replications. Extracts were either tested alone, or in combination with vegetable (mustard) cooking oil or bee wax at different concentrations using mandarin fruit cultivar (local Suntala). Treated fruits were stored at 15 ± 1oC and 90-95 % relative humidity for 15 days. Further experimentation was carried out by lowering the concentration levels of the extract. All the extracts of various concentrations were effective as compared to control in inhibiting the growth and development of Penicillium digitatum Sacc. However the most effective one was lemongrass oil in the management of green mold disease of citrus. A markedly increased ability of extracts was observed when extracts were used with bee wax in checking green mold disease of citrus fruits. The treatment comprising lemongrass oil and mint oil even at lower concentration level (0.01-0.04%) was also found equally effective as that of the fungicide treatment in controlling green mold on mandarin oranges.

13-20

Authors: Sarswati Neupane, Resham Bahadur Thapa, Yubak Dhoj GC, Suroj Pokhrel, Punya Prasad Regmi, Subash Subedi, Arjun Upadhya

The experiments were conducted to study the efficacy of plant dusts, oils and indigenous materials against pulse beetle (Callosobruchus chinensis L.) on mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) seeds at the laboratory of Grain Legumes Research program, Rampur, Chitwan. The botanicals Timur (Zanthoxylum armatum DC), Camphor balls (Cinnamomum camphora L.), Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), Black peeper (Piper longum L.) were dried under shade, to avoid loss of active ingredients, until the moisture content was completely removed from those materials. Well-dried botanical materials were made in powder form using grinder machine. Similarly, plant derived oils Neem oil (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), Soybean oil (Glycine max L. Merr), Mustard oil (Brassica juncea L.), Coconut oil (Cocos nucifera L.) and Sesame oil (Sesamum indicum L.) were purchased from market. Ten pairs of adults were transferred to each plastic bottle with perforated lead of capacity 1 kg containing 300 g botanicals (dust and oils) treated seeds using brush. The total numbers of treatments were 11 including one control following completely randomized design with four replications. The concentration of plant dust and plant oil was maintained 2g/kg and 5ml/kg of seed respectively during the treatment of seed. The efficacy was evaluated by considering total number of adult emergence, final weight, percent weight loss, germination percentage and moisture percentage of mungbean seeds up to 9 month of storage. Among botanicals tested, camphor and tobacco dust @ 2 g/kg of seed from powder form and plant oils- neem, sesamum and soybean, respectively @ 5 ml/kg of seed can be explored as excellent alternative over the poisonous pesticide for the management of C. chinensis L. in storage of mungbean and other pulses. The extracts of camphor and neem seed had no adverse effects on seed germination up to nine months of storage.