Seed borne fungal pathogens associated with pigeonpea seeds and their effect on seed quality parameters

Abstract

Seed health testing is a pre-requisite for seed improvement, seed production, seed certification and trade of seed. This study was conducted to identify seed-borne fungi associated with stored pigeonpea seeds. Nine fungi viz; Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Fusarium oxysporum, F. moniliforme, F. udum, Drechslera sp., Curvularia lunata, Rhizoctonia sp. and Alternaria alternata were isolated from the seeds of Vaishali, GT-1, GT-101, GT-102, GT-103 and AVPP-1 pigeonpea varieties by using blotter and agar plate methods. The most dominant fungal species were A. niger, A. flavus, F. oxysporum, F. moniliforme, F. udum and A. alternata. Bio-chemical analysis of artificially infected pigeonpea seeds with nine different fungi decreased percentage of protein, total soluble sugars (TSS) and lipid content compared with healthy seeds. Significantly lowest protein and TSS content was observed in discoloured seeds i.e., 8.70 and 1.20 per cent, while lowest lipid content observed in the shrivelled seeds (1.4%).