In vitro antifungal activities of extracts of fruits and other morphological parts of Xanthium strumarium Against the plant pathogen,Rhizoctonia solani

In vitro antifungal activity of different plant parts of xanthium strumarium (compositae) was investigated against rhizoctonia solani to seek safe natural alternatives to the harmful synthetic fungicides. the most active plant parts of x. strumarium were seeds,extracted with n-hexane and the leaves,extracted with absolute ethanol. the two treatments resulted in growth inhibition diameters of 45 mm and 47 mm,respectively. the value of mic lied between 350.0 and 175.0 μg of xanthium oil/ml. gas liquid chromatography of the seed oil of x. strumarium revealed the presence of the usual fatty acids,palmitoleic (7.6%),oleic (21.6%) and linoleic (70.4%). the oil was separated into free fatty acids fraction and unsaponifiable matter fraction. the unsaponifiable matter fraction was separated on tlc,out of six separated compounds,two were active against r. solani. the infrared spectra (ftir) of these two purified compounds pointed to a long chain hydrocarbon back-bone for both,one of them possessing in addition,an alcoholic moiety.