Preface

A fungicide is a chemical pesticide compound that kills or inhibits the growth of fungi. In agriculture, fungicide is used to control fungi that threaten to destroy or compromise crops. Gardeners use fungicide as a household pesticide to protect plants from potential destruction. In medicine, fungicide is used to kill fungal infections. The drugs used to kill these infections are referred to as antifungal drugs.

Government agencies monitor the use of fungicide in agriculture and medicine. Fungicide is classified as a pesticide when used on plants and is subject to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. Most fungicides are toxic to humans and can present both acute and chronic problems if absorbed into food eaten by people. There are also environmental issues, that the EPA must address, resulting from the use of fungicide in agriculture, including runoff into streams and lakes. In medicine, infections caused by fungus, such as ringworm and yeast infections, must be treated with an antifungal medication. Antifungal medications can be orally or topically administered, and many fungal infections are treated with both methods.

We are thankful to all the authors who have contributed to this book. We wish to record our appreciation of the high standard of work put up by the InTech Open Access Publisher, committed to making peer reviewed scientific literature free for the world. This book comprises of 14 chapters devoted to the application of fungicides in the control and management of fungal diseases, which should be very helpful to the undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, teachers of microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture and horticulture.

#### **Dr. D. Dhanasekaran,**

Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, India

#### **Dr. N. Thajuddin,**

Associate Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Bharathidasan University, India

#### **Dr. A. Panneerselvam,**

Associate Professor, PG and Research Dept. of Microbiology and Botany, AVVM Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), India

**Part 1** 

**Fungicidal Compounds** 

**Part 1** 

**Fungicidal Compounds** 

**1** 

*Spain* 

Juan A. Martínez

*Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena* 

**Natural Fungicides Obtained from Plants** 

Fungicides belong to a group of pesticides which inhibited fungal growth either causing damage to the cells or preventing the fungal development. As pesticides, they offer great economic and social benefits through the protection and preservation of materials, food and the prevention of diseases. Since pesticides are designed specifically to fight harmful or even dangerous life forms and therefore are toxic to them, they may present hazards to the environment by their potential effect upon non-target organisms, including humans, particularly when misused. The need to balance these benefits against the risks presents a

The widespread use of synthetic fungicides (chemical fungicides) in agriculture is a relatively recent phenomenon, and most of the major developments have taken place during the last 60 years. It has been the major way of fungal disease control in the world during the past decades and nowadays it plays an important role in crop protection. However, the chemical residues are liable to remain on the plant or within its tissues following fungicidal treatment. Fungicide residues in plants and their fruits pose a great health risk to the consumer, led to the search for safe alternatives to synthetic fungicides. In days gone by, farmers often ignored or did not recognize the effect that fungal pathogens had on the yield and quality of their crops. Nowadays, however, the losses are unacceptable, and farmers rely on the use of chemicals to control fungal diseases. As a consequence, commercial fungicides have become an important component of the total agrochemical business, with world-wide sales in 1996 of about \$5.9 billion, equivalent to 18.9% of the total agrochemical

Economic losses caused by plant diseases are one of the main problems in crop management and postharvest storage. Some chemical fungicides are able to present curative and preventive action at the same time. Generally, they have a high persistent action; therefore they can develop a preventive action for long time. In spite of their effective action depend on dose and mode of plant application; it is known that they present a high effectively. This fact together to the simple application, handle and low cost, these chemical products have been used from approximately 1950. However, the massive and continue use of these products, together to the lack of controlled and adequate conditions for using them it have generated numerous problems such as new fungal pathogen strains resistant to fungicides

The use of synthetic fungicides has been the major commercial means of postharvest decay control for several decades. However, the chemical residues that are liable to remain on the

and the increase of waste residues and the toxic effects for humans and animals.

challenge to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) unlike other chemicals.

market (Clough & Godfrey, 1998; Wood Mackenzie, 1997).

**1. Introduction** 
