Antifungal activity of Black cardamom (Amomum tsao-ko Crevost et Lemairé) plant extracts against Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend and their prospect of developing fungicide for sustainable agricultural production

Fusarium oxysporum fungus is the pathogen that causes wilts or root and crown rots on many economically important field crops, causing significant losses to agricultural production. The use of plant extracts to control this fungus is an alternative to synthetic fungicides. Black cardamom (Amomum tsao-ko Crevost et Lemairé), which belongs to the monophyletic Zingiberaceae family, is a valuable medicinal plant in Vietnam. The antifungal activity of black cardamom seed extract has been reported in several previous studies. This study aimed to determine the antifungal activity of black cardamom extracts against the F. oxysporum fungus. The fungicidal effects of black cardamom extracts (including ethanol extract of leaf, seed, rhizome + root, and pseudo-stem) concentrations of 50 and 100 mg/L were investigated. Results indicated that the black cardamom extracts had different fungicidal effects on the growth of F. oxysporum mycelium. A significant inhibitory effect on the growth of F. oxysporum mycelium was obtained using the seed extract at a concentration of 100 mg/L. In addition, in the variant with the use of the extract obtained from the seeds, the lowest indicator of the specific growth rate (m) of the fungus was observed. The antifungal components from black cardamom plant could be used in developing novel fungicides (biopesticides) for the diseases caused by F. oxysporum.