Penyakit layu yang disebabkan oleh cendawan Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) merupakan salah satu penyakit penting pada tanaman pisang. Teknik pengendalian yang efektif dan berwawasan lingkungan perlu terus diupayakan, di antaranya melalui penggunaan pestisida nabati. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui pengaruh pemberian daun beberapa tumbuhan penghasil minyak atsiri terhadap jumlah propagul awal Foc dalam tanah dan pengendalian penyakit layu Fusarium pisang pada skala rumah kasa. Penelitian dilakukan di Laboratorium Penyakit dan Rumah Kasa Balai Penelitian Tanaman Buah Tropika Solok mulai bulan Februari sampai dengan Juni 2009. Rancangan yang digunakan dalam percobaan ialah acak kelompok dengan lima perlakuan dan empat ulangan, masing-masing ulangan terdiri atas lima tanaman. Perlakuan tersebut adalah empat jenis daun tumbuhan penghasil minyak atsiri yaitu : (A) daun nilam, (B) serai, (C) daun kayu manis, (D) daun cengkeh, dan (E) tanpa perlakuan (kontrol). Tanaman uji adalah bibit pisang Ambon Hijau hasil perbanyakan kultur jaringan umur 2 bulan setelah aklimatisasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pemberian daun tumbuhan penghasil minyak atsiri mampu menekan jumlah propagul awal Foc di dalam media tanam. Persentase penurunan propagul Foc awal dalam media yang berumur 5 minggu setelah pemberian tumbuhan penghasil minyak atsiri berkisar antara 50,1-70,6%. Semua perlakuan, kecuali daun nilam, juga mampu memperlambat munculnya gejala atau masa inkubasi penyakit. Masa inkubasi penyakit paling lama terjadi pada perlakuan pemberian daun cengkeh, diikuti dengan perlakuan pemberian daun kayu manis dan daun serai dengan perpanjangan masa inkubasi masing-masing sampai 22 dan 15 hari dibandingkan dengan kontrol. Pemberian daun tumbuhan mengandung minyak atsiri belum berakibat pada penurunan persentase dan intensitas serangan penyakit, sehingga perlakuan pemberian tumbuhan penghasil minyak atsiri perlu dikombinasikan dengan metode pengendalian lain agar lebih efektif dalam menekan penyakit layu Fusarium.<br /><br /><br /><br />Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) is the most important disease on banana. Effective and environmental friendly techniques in controlling the disease need to be effort continually, among of them are with application of biopesticide to suppres Foc. The objectives of the research were to know the effect of some plant producing essential oils on initial number of propagule of Foc in soil and disease development of Fusarium wilt of banana. The research was conducted at Indonesian Tropical Fruits Research Institute Solok from February to June 2009. A randomized block design with five treatments and four replications was used, whereas each treatment consisted of five plants. Four types of plant producing essential oils as treatments, namely (A) crude of patchouly leaves, (B) crude of lemon grass, (C) crude of cassia leaves, (D) crude of clove leaves, and (E) water as control treatment were used. Ambon Hijau cultivar derived from tissue culture propagation of 2 months after acclimatization was used as experiemental material. The result showed that application of leaves of plant producing essential oils decreased initial number of Foc propagules in the banana cultivation media. Percentage of reducing the number of initial propagule of Foc in medium after infestation of plant producing essential oils ranged between 50.1-70.6%. All application of plant producing essential oils, except crude of patchouly leaves, was effective to reduce the incidence of wilting or incubation period of the disease. The longest disease incubation period was determined on treatment with clove leaves, followed by cassia and lemon grass leaf with extending incubation period up to 22 and 15 days respectively compared to control. Application of the plant producing essential oils was not successfully applied in suppressing the percentage of wilt and disease intensity on banana under screenhouse condition. Therefore combination treatments with other techniques in conjunction to improve the effectivity of the plants in controlling Fusarium wilt disease are suggested.
Assessment of the efficiency of essential oils in the preservation of postharvest papaya in an antimicrobial packaging system
