Idress Hamad Attitalla’s scientific contributions

Samples of groundnut seeds were collected from stores and examined for their associated mycoflora and insects. Fifteen species of fungi were identified by blotter method and 12 species of fungi by agar plate method. In vitro volatile constituents extracted in the form of essential oils from 32 plant species were evaluated against the dominant fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. The 2 commercial fungicides was assessed for their antifungal activity against allisolated fungi. The oil of Cuminumcyminum (Apiaceae) exhibited the greatest toxicity. The oil was found to be fungicidal and thermostable at its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 400 ppm. The oil was characterized by the determination of its various physico-chemical properties. In vivo studies depict that the oil as seed dressing agent and as a fumigant was able to preserve the groundnut food seeds completely for 6 months at 0.50 and 0.76 mL in containers of 500 mL capacity holding 400 g seeds with minimal changes in organoleptic behavior of food seeds during storage. It did not exhibit any adverse effect on seed germination, seedling growth and general health and morphology of plants. GC and GC-MS analysis of the oil revealed recognition of p-mentha-1, 4-dien-7-al (27.4%), γ-terpinene (12.8%), β-pinene (11.4%) and cuminaldehyde (16.1%) as major compounds.