Abstract
A natural red dye which is produced by the tiny insects Kerria lacca while feeding on host trees is popularly known as lac dye. Lac dye is a mixture of at least five closely related pure compounds all being anthraquinone derivatives designated as laccaic acid A, B, C, D and E. Anthraquinones isolated from different natural sources and reported to have potent antimicrobial activity. The lac dye, which is also a mixture of anthraquinone derivatives, is expected to exhibit antifungal and antibacterial activity. Lac dye cannot be used as antibacterial and antifungal agent due to its low water solubility and high polarity. Therefore, it is modified into its methyl derivative to enhance its bio-efficacy. Methylated lac dye is characterized with the help of TLC, UV-Vis spectroscopy and FT-IR, NMR analysis. An in vitro spore germination assay was carried out to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of methylated lac dye against some phytopathogenic fungi which commonly caused a various foliar diseases in crop plants viz., Alternaria solani, Curvularia lunata, Erysiphe pisi, Helminthosporium oryzae and Verticillium sp. Among the tested fungi, Verticillum sp. showed highest sensitivity, which showed 100% inhibition at 750 and 1000 µg/ml as compared to control. However, E. pisi an obligate parasite also showed varied sensitivity but at 1000 µg/ml showed 100% spore germination as compared to control. Methylated lac dye also showed strong antibacterial properties against Ralstonia solanacearum at very low concentration (40 and 50 µg/ml). Hence, lac dye may serve as potent antifungal and antibacterial agent in plant disease management.