Vol. 11, Special Issue 10 (2022)

Author(s):
Deepak Sharma, Radhika Negi, Kajal Sharma, Aman Verma, Swati Thukral, Dimple and Sanchita Gautam

Abstract:
Solanaceous vegetable crops play a significant role in human nutrition and to cope with malnutrition, especially as sources of vitamins like vitamin C, A, E, thiamine, niacin, pyridoxine, folacin, minerals and dietary fibre. They are termed as Protective Foods because these are rich source of minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients. Phytochemicals found in solanaceous vegetables like lycopene in tomato and peppers, nasunin in brinjal are strong antioxidants and are thought to reduce the risk of chronic disease. Monoculture of these crops consequently leads to increased spectrum of insect-pests and diseases. The losses in crop yield due to pathogen infections range between 20% and 40%. On average, pathogen-induced losses of potato, tomato are estimated to be around 24% (Oerke, 2006). Early and accurate detection and diagnosis of plant diseases is key factor for reduction of losses and spreading of diseases (Balodi et al., 2017). Conventional or traditional methods of disease detection include methods of visual examination, culturing or plating, biochemical tests etc. These methods are reliable but on the other hand they are very time consuming (Ray et al., 2017). On the Other hand, advance method such as Serological and molecular methods have high sensitivity and specificity and are less time consuming (Sankaran et al., 2010). Early and accurate detection and diagnosis assess the effectiveness of application of cultural, physical, biological and chemical management.