Abstract:
Trichoderma viride is a promising bio control agent for various plant pathogens in sustainable
agriculture. It can be multiplied in liquid and solid media, but liquid fermentation has a higher
reproductive capacity than solid-state fermentation. High cost of substrates is one the major
problems in scaling up of its commercial production. Early studies revealed that raw tamarind
pulp alone supported the growth of T. viride however to maximize the availability of raw materials
the potential of the extracts of seed kernel, leaf and fruit shell were also evaluated. Dissolving 10g
in 100mL of distilled water served the base substrate to standardize the conidial production. The
highest conidia were recorded 7 DAI in pulp extract (2.83 ×108 conidia/ml) followed by seed
kernel (1.90×108), leaf (1.73×108) and fruit shell (1.64×108). These results revealed that pulp
extract is a good source of medium for T. viride mass production rather than other tested extracts.
Conidial production was obtained as high as 28.627×108 conidia/mL at 20g pulp dissolved in
100mL of distilled water at 3 WAI. The concentration ranging from 5 to 25g pulp per 100mL
distilled water arrived the optimum conidial production at 3 WAI. The production of conidia was
stabilized in standardized tamarind pulp extract as high as 61.68×108 conidia/ml for 25 g/100mL
for 8 weeks. The results revealed for extending the shelf-life of broth was as high as 82.5×108
conidia/ml for 30-gauge polythene bag compared to materials. In the 30-gauge polythene bag at
the concentration of 25g/100mL was significantly increased the viable spore production when
compared with other materials tested. Seed kernel and fruit pulp extracts at the ratio of 3:1 on a
volumetric basis was significantly increased the conidiation as 4.832×109 conidia/mL. Finally, the
findings reveal that adjusting the concentration of the Tamarind pulp would yield the highest
conidial production with an increased shelf life more than 2 months.
