Evaluation of lawsonia inermis leaf extracts for their in vitro fungitoxicity against certain soilborne pathogensVGirijashankarauthorBThayumanavanauthorScreening of Lawsonia inermis leaf extracts for their fungitoxicity was carried out in vitro against some selected soil-borne phytopathogens, Rhizoctonia solani. Pythium aphanidermatum and Macrophomina phaseolina. Of the three solvent extracts studied, cold-water extract at 10% concentration showed a maximum of 70% inhibition of the mycelial growth of R. solani. Methanol extract at 2.5% concentration completely inhibited P. aphanidermatum while the same at 10% proved effective against M. phaseolina by 60% when compared to cold water and petroleum ether extracts. Petroleum ether extract was ineffective against R. solani and M. phaseolina. The amount of total phenols was 4.5 mg/g of fresh leaf tissue. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic analysis of the cold-water extracts revealed the presence of four different absorption peaks of which only two compounds could be identified i.e. tannic acid and catecholSoil Science2005Plant Protection Association of IndiaArticle