The effect of Medicago arabica, M. hybrida and M. sativa saponins on the growth and development of Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht f. sp. tulipae apt.
In the present work it was shown that total saponins originated from <i>M. hybrida</i> and <i>M. sativa</i> substantially limited mycelium growth of <i>F. oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>tulipae</i> and symptoms of fusariosis on tulip bulbs. Out of 15 individual tested saponins originated from <i>M. arabica</i>, <i>M. hybrida</i> and <i>M. sativa</i>, four compounds: 3-<i>O</i>-[β-D-glucopyranosyl (1→2)α-L-arabinopyranosyl] hederagenin, hederagenin 3-<i>O</i>-β-D-glucopyranoside, medicagenic acid, medicagenic acid 3-<i>O</i>-β-D-glucopyranoside had the strongest inhibitory effect on mycelium growth of <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>tulipae</i> on PDA medium. The total saponins from <i>M. arabica</i>, <i>M. hybrida</i> and <i>M. sativa</i> inhibited the number of colony forming units of <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>tulipae</i> in artificially infested substrate. The use of saponins originated from <i>Medicago</i> as a fungicide is suggested.