Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) is often considered a “miracle plant” due to its multiple uses, including its extracts reported insecticidal and fungicidal effects. This study assessed the efficacy of aqueous extract from dried leaves of J. curcas and Sulphur 99.5% WP fungicide in managing Aspergillus flavus growth and Aspergillus ear rot (AER) in maize at harvest across two sites. Treatments included botanical extracts at 300 g/L (T1), 350 g/L (T2), Sulphur at 5 g/L (T3) and 10 g/L (T4), and combinations of botanical extracts with Sulphur at both low and high concentrations (T5 and T6). Additionally, Aflasafe TZ01™ and untreated control were used as checks. At site 1, T2 and T6 significantly reduced AER incidence (10% and 13.33%, respectively) compared to the untreated control (70%). At site 2, most treatments, particularly the combinations of botanicals and sulphur, had lower AER incidences than the control. All treatments significantly reduced AER severity at site 1, where the untreated control exhibited the highest severity (67%). A similar trend was observed at site 2, although Aflasafe showed severity levels comparable to the control. Significant differences in A. flavus population counts were observed among treatments at both sites, with higher dosages of botanical extracts and their combinations with sulphur showing lower counts than the untreated control. The counts, in Colony Forming Units per gram (CFU/g), ranged from 171.5 (T6) to 490.9 (untreated control) and 80.5 (T6) to 554.4 (untreated control) in sites 1 and 2, respectively. These findings indicate that Jatropha curcas, either alone or in combination with sulphur, hold potential as a component of integrated management strategies against Aspergillus flavus infections at the pre-harvest stage.

中文翻译：

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用硫磺修饰的麻风树提取物对收获时玉米曲霉和曲霉穗腐病的功效


麻风树 （Euphorbiaceae） 通常被认为是一种 “神奇植物”，因为它具有多种用途，包括其提取物 据报道具有杀虫和杀真菌作用。本研究评估了 J. curcas 干叶水提取物和硫 99.5% WP 杀菌剂在两个地点收获时控制玉米中曲霉生长和曲霉穗腐病 （AER） 的功效。处理包括 300 g/L （T1）、350 g/L （T2） 的植物提取物、5 g/L （T3） 和 10 g/L （T4） 的硫磺，以及植物提取物与低浓度和高浓度硫磺的组合（T5 和 T6）。此外，使用 Aflasafe TZ01™ 和未处理的对照作为检查。在站点 1，与未处理的对照 （70%） 相比，T2 和 T6 显著降低了 AER 发生率 （分别为 10% 和 13.33%）。在地点 2，大多数处理，特别是植物药和硫的组合，AER 发生率低于对照。所有治疗均显著降低了部位 1 的 AER 严重程度，其中未治疗的对照组表现出最高的严重程度 （67%）。在站点 2 观察到类似的趋势，尽管 Aflasafe 的严重性水平与对照组相当。在两个地点的处理中观察到黄曲霉种群计数的显着差异，植物提取物剂量较高，它们与硫的组合显示出比未处理的对照低的数量。在第 1 个和第 2 个部位，以每克菌落形成单位 （CFU/g） 为单位，计数范围分别为 171.5 （T6） 至 490.9（未处理的对照）和 80.5 （T6） 至 554.4（未处理的对照）。这些发现表明，麻风树，无论是单独使用还是与硫磺联合使用，都有可能成为收获前阶段针对黄曲霉感染的综合管理策略的组成部分。