Antifungal Potential of Four Aloe Species

Increase in the use of biologically based fungicides for controlling plant and human pathogens in the recent years have led to this research to determine the efficacy of solvent type, to determine the best species of aloe for breeding new variety with more potent biocides for controlling these fungal pathogens under reducing the use of synthetic fungicides which have long term adverse effect on the environment, plant and the end users. The biocides of the leaves and the roots of four species of aloe (Aloe keayi, Aloe macrocarpa var. major, Aloe schwenfurthii and Aloe vera) were extracted with four different solvents (i.e. acetone, ethanol, methanol and hot water) while their fungicidal properties were investigated against three fungal pathogens of crops (Sclerotium rolfsii, Trichoderma rubrum and Colletotrichum lindemuthiamum). The result shows that A. macrocarpa var. major and A. schwenfurthii are the most suitable parental genotypes for the breeding of an aloe with more potent biocides.