Fusarium species, the causal cumin wilt in the Khorasan-Razavi province of Iran

Cumin is the second most popular spice worldwide after black pepper. It is planted with a large acreage each year in Iran, especially in the Khorasan-Razavi province (northeastern Iran). Fungal diseases have caused great loss to this precious plant every year. This study aimed to investigate and identify the causal fungi of chlorosis and wilting of cumin in the Khorasan-Razavi province.

Yellowed and wilted cumin plants were sampled from Torbat-Heydarieh, Kashmar, and Roshtkhar suburban’s farms, and fungi were isolated, purified, and identified, from their diseased tissues. The pathogenicity test of isolated fungi was carried out on a local cultivar under greenhouse conditions.

Two Fusarium species, including F. oxysporum with the highest frequency and F. equiseti with the lowest frequency, were isolated from diseased cumin plants. Between 43 isolates of these fungi in the pathogenicity test, twenty-four isolates of F. oxysporum caused wilt, and nine isolates of  F. equiseti caused chlorosis and leaf fall, in the plant.

F. oxysporum, and F. equiseti are known as the causal agents of cumin wilt and chlorosis in the Khorasan-Razavi province of Iran.