IN-VITROSTUDIES ON ANTIFUNGALACTIVITY OF SOMEMISTLETOE SPECIES

In vitro evaluation of antifungal activity by disc diffusion method was carried out on leaf extracts of D.falcata, D. falcata var pubescens, V. monoicum and V. orientale and stem extracts of D. falcata, D. falcata var pubescens, V. articulatum and V.orientale using three different solvents viz., methanol, n-hexane and ethyl acetate. The antifungal activity was tested on three fungal strains include Fusarium oxysporum, Phytophthora infestans, Sclerotium rolfsii. Overall leaf extracts exerted better inhibitory activity than stem counterparts. Among all, only V. orientale was effective against the three fungal species.Compared to stem extracts, leaf extracts of D. falcata var pubescens have shown higher antifungal activity.