Control of Yam Rots with Botanicals: Xylopia aethiopica (Uda) and Piper guineense (uziza) Seeds Extract

Abstract

The isolation and identification of fungi pathogens causing yam rot across markets in Awka and the control of this rot using botanicals was carried out using standard laboratory procedures. Randomized block sampling was used in the sample collection for this study. For the in vitro analysis, potatoes dextrose agar was used to prepare innocula for the 4 unhealthy yam tubers collected. Aqueous extract of seeds of Xylopia aethiopica and Piper guineense was used for growth inhibition treatment in this study. The results show the nature of fungal growth and total colony count of the fungi pathogens isolated. For the samples collected from Eke Awka and First Market, there was heavy growth of the identified fungi pathogens, while for the yam samples obtained from second Market and Amansea, there was moderate and scanty growths, respectively. There was inhibitory activity of seed extract of Piper guineense and Xylopia aethiopica on the fungi pathogens isolated from diseased yam across markets in Awka. The results showed that X. aethiopica (4.80±0.24) inhibited Aspergillus terreus more than P. guineense (4.53±0.21). Fusarium oxzysporum was inhibited more by P. guineense (5.74±0.26) than X. aethiopica (3.86±0.25). Piper guineense also had a higher inhibition rate on Rhizopus stolonifer (4.34±0.26) than X. aethiopica which had (3.75±0.22). The positive control (Grisovid) showed more inhibitory activity than the extracts in general. The result shows that all the fungi pathogens had a slow and consistent increase in pathogenicity from day 3 to the 6th day. This study has identified the fungi associated with spoilage of yam and the possible control of these pathogens using plant extracts. The study also revealed the fungi that caused these diseases and they included A. terreus, R. stolonifer and F. oxysporum. These fungi had fast growth and were spread within a short period of time on fresh yam; but with the use of Piper guineense and X. aethiopica, these fungi pathogens were significantly inhibited.

Keywords: Control; Yam; Rot, Xylopia aethiopica; Piper guineense

Citation

Okigbo RN, Ezebo RO, Chukwu JI. Control of Yam Rots with Botanicals: Xylopia aethiopica (Uda) and Piper guineense (uziza) Seeds Extract. WebLog J Nutr Food Sci. wjnfs.2026. e1303. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20210755