Antifungal activity from polar and non-polar extracts of some Chenopodiaceae wild species growing in Tunisia.

Nine plants belonging to Chenopodiaceae family were collected around salt marshes near Monastir, located in the east Mediterranean coast of Tunisia. They were tested for their antifungal activities against six plant pathogenic fungi: Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum, F. solani f. sp. cucurbitae, Phytophthora cactorum, Rhizoctonia solani and Nattrassia mangiferae. Data of this study showed that the highest inhibition of Botrytis cinerea growth was observed with the petroleum ether extract of Atriplex inflata fruits (F) (24.5 mm). The in vitro growth of F. oxysporum f. sp. niveum was reduced only with A. inflata whole plant (WP) petroleum ether extract (32.3 mm). The most important inhibition zones were obtained against F. solani f. sp. cucurbitae with Atriplex semibaccata methanol and acetone extracts (34.7 and 31.0 mm, respectively). This work revealed that fungitoxic compounds were probably present in the petroleum ether extract obtained from A. portulacoides (WP), since it has suppressed the growth of F. s. cucurbitae. Our investigation proved that many Chenopodiaceae species adapted to saline soils may contain phytochemical compounds with fungicidal properties.