Effect of leaf and stem extract of <i>Rhazya stricta</i>, calotropis, paper mulberry and ricinus on control of bacterial blight of pomegranate

Pomegranate blight is a serious disease caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas. axonopodis pv. punicae. The aim of this study was to evaluate the invitro activity of leaf and stem extracts of four medicinal plants, Rhazya stricta, Calotropis procera, Morus alba (black moss tree) and Ricinus communis, against bacterial blight pathogen. The extracts were prepared using solvent extraction and tested for infectivity using disk diffusion. The results showed that all the plant extracts showed different anti-microbial activities. Among the tested extracts, R. stricta and C. procera showed the highest inhibitory effects on bacterial growth. These findings suggest that these plant extracts could be potential sources of natural antimicrobial agents for the management of bacterial blight of pomegranate. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of these extracts under field conditions and to identify the bioactive compounds responsible for their antibacterial activity.