Disease-suppressive effect of compost tea against phytopathogens in sustaining herbal plant productivity

Abstract

As for all other important crops, soilborne diseases in herbal plants are becoming a complex and quite prevalent problem that significantly reduced yield production, which may severely influence the bioactive compounds. These valuable crops are taking an increasing relevance in mass, and the dependence on chemical fungicides should be reduced to preserve the qualitative aspect of production. One of the available alternative biological approaches is the compost teas. It is strongly imperative to use it to prevent, suppress, or control wide range of soilborne plant diseases especially caused by fungal phytopathogens. Compost teas are a fermented compost aqueous extract that consists of abundance of antagonistic microbes within it. This review provides the key principles to several aspects of inhibitory potential of compost teas derived from biological origins including fundamental idea for the preparation of compost tea, bio-efficacy effects in managing the plant diseases, as well as mechanism on disease suppression. Better understanding of the antagonism microbial interactions within compost teas will determine the sustainability of any approaches for a biocontrol program. The factors affecting their effectiveness also will be briefly explained. Finally, future research is proposed to further validate the strategies of compost teas as suitable tool of plant protectants toward an improvement of the overall health of plants.