Phytochemical composition and antifungal effectiveness of Phoenix dactylifera L. rachis extracts

The present study appraised the inhibitory role of ethanol (PDEE) and ethyl acetate (PDEAE) extracts
of Phoenix dactylifera L. against three molecularly identifi ed fungi: Fusarium oxysporum, Botrytis cinerea,
and Rhizoctonia solani. HPLC analysis revealed that gallic acid was the major phenolic compound in both
extracts: (PDEE: 1721.90 μg/g) and (PDEAE: 101.53 μg/g). The major fl avonoids in PDEE are rutin,
kaempferol, and quercetin, whereas PDEAE contains kaempferol, naringenin, and quercetin. The GC-MS
showed 11-octadecenoic acid methyl ester (26.25%) is the highest compound in PDEE, while diisooctyl
phthalate (18.82%) is the most important compound in PDEAE. At 50 μg/mL, the inhibition percentage
of PDEAE initiated the highest growth inhibition of F. oxysporum (49.63%) and R. solani (71.43%). Meanwhile, PDEE at 200 μg/mL initiated an inhibition value of 77.78% for B. cinerea. As a result, PDEAE is
considered more effective than PDEE in controlling the growth of selected isolates.