Plant Based Remedies against the Microbial Maladies with a Focus on Bacterial Wilt Caused by Ralstonia solanacearum in Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi & al. is one of the worst disease-causing pathogens to ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) that incur severe crop loss and affect the economic security of the farmers. Management of the disease involves traditional and modern scientific techniques that necessitate or demand synthetic chemicals. In this connection, a study was conducted with certain endemic plants of the Western Ghats to unravel the ability of these plants to control bacterial wilt that affect the ginger crop. The plant species selected were Hydnocarpus macrocarpus (Bedd.) Warb., Colubrina travancorica Bedd., Cynometra beddomei Prain, Prioria pinnata (Roxb. ex DC.) Breteler and Cynometra travancorica Bedd. The plant samples were collected from different areas of Western Ghats particularly the Wayanad district of Kerala. Phytochemical investigations, both qualitative and quantitative means, revealed that all of them possess chemical compounds both potential therapeutic and antimicrobial properties. Studies to check the ability of these plants against R. solanacearum revealed that Prioria pinnata has the proper ability to inhibit bacterial growth. Further investigation showed that the alkaloid fractions of the plant extract showed the highest antimicrobial properties compared to that of phenols and terpenoid fractions. The GC-MS and FTIR studies indicate the presence of the good amount of chemical compounds in the tree species of Prioria pinnata, possessing antimicrobial and therapeutic potential. The study points out the conservation of plant wealth of theWestern Ghats that hides many biomolecules of clinical and industrial potential. The threat caused by climate change to plant wealth can be minimized by appropriate public and private partnership-oriented conservation programs.