Antifungal activity of Achilléa millefólium extract against pathogens of plant root rot

Introduction: Phytopathogens affect all types of agricultural plants in all regions of the world. The annual losses from these pathogens in the global economy amount to tens of billions of dollars. All over the world, great importance is attached to environmentally friendly means of protecting plants from pathogens, so a promising direction is the use of green technologies for the development of biological products based on plant extracts and their natural compounds. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antifungal activity of Achilléa millefólium extract of the Compósitae family against pathogens that cause plant root rot and to determine their component composition.

Methods: An aqueous-alcoholic extract of the plant Achilléa millefólium was obtained by grinding the leaves, washing with running water and then with sterile water, drying, grinding into powder, and extraction with 70% ethanol, followed by settling and filtering. The antifungal activity of the extract was determined by the agar diffusion method. Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, and Penicillium notatum, previously isolated from soybean plants affected by root rot, were used as test microorganisms. The component composition was determined using HPLC and gas chromatographic analysis.

Results: The Achilléa millefólium extract was shown to have high antifungal activity; the growth inhibition zones of F. oxysporum, F. solani, and P. notatum were 36.3 mm, 39.6 mm, and 31.0 mm, respectively. The component composition of the extract revealed derivatives of flavones, quercetin, kaempferol, phenolic acids, decanoic acid, etc.

Conclusions: The Achilléa millefólium plant extract and the complex of its natural compounds can be further used as a basis for the development of environmentally friendly drugs against plant root rot pathogens.