Effect of mixture of Trichoderma isolates on biochemical parameter in tomato fruits against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum rot of tomato plant

Experiments revealed that a mixture of Trichoderma harzianum isolates, BHU51 and BHU105 showed lowest mean disease rating (MDR) of 1.70 and 1.62% and per cent disease reduction (PDR) by 41.00 and 44.84% during the year 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively. Shoot length, chlorophyll content and yield was also recorded highest in the mixture of BHU51+ BHU105 treatment followed by single Trichoderma treatments while lowest was found in pathogen inoculated control. The nutritional quality such as lycopene content, protein and carbohydrate was recorded highest in BHU51+ BHU105 treatment. The antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging ability of tomato fruit extract was also recorded. The results indicated that maximum 1,1-diphenyl -2-pycryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (47.86%), ferrous ion chelation capacity (50.81%), hydroxyl radical scavenging ability (49.18%) and reducing power 0.203 O.D. at wavelength 700 nm was maximum for BHU51+ BHU105 treatment, followed by single Trichoderma treated treatments while these were recorded lowest in pathogen inoculated control.