Preliminary Screening of Neem Seed Oil against <I>Schizophyllum commune</I> - a Bamboo Degrading White Rot Fungus

Abstract

Neem tree is widely recognized for its superior insecticidal, fungistatic and fungitoxic ability. Neem seed oil has been found effective against number of pathogenic fungi. The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of the neem seed oil against bamboo degrading white rot fungus, Schizophyllum commune at various concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 per cent. Results revealed that neem seed oil tested at 5% conc. level completely inhibited the fungal growth up to 100% whereas growth inhibition up to 92.86 and 67.62 per cent was observed at 3.0 and 1.0 per cent conc., respectively as compared to control where 100 per cent growth of the test fungus was observed. At lower concentration level of 0.5 per cent it showed lower anti-fungal activity (22.86 per cent growth inhibition).