Effect of Phenolic Acids to Ganoderma Viability in Oil Palm Tissues and Soil Wei-Ren JEE, Khim-Phin CHONG Download pdf. Keywords: Caffeic acid, Syringic acid, 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid, Ganoderma, Basal Stem Rot. A b s t r a c t This paper presents the potential of phenolic acids; caffeic acid (CA), syringic acid (SA) and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA) in Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease suppression of oil palm. Four concentrations of phenolics combinations were tested which were 0.4 g a.i., 0.8 g a.i., 1.2 g a.i. and 1.6 g a.i. of each CA, SA and 4-HBA. Infected palms with similar BSR disease intensity, age, soil topography and condition were selected for this trial. Assessment on Ganoderma viability was based on ergosterol content, possible isolation of the fungus on Ganoderma Selective Medium (GSM) from treated palm and Colony Forming of Ganoderma on GSM from treated soil. No ergosterol was found in healthy palms but in contrast ergosterol was detected in infected oil palm tissues before and after the treatments of phenolic acids. However, the untreated and infected palms showed significantly higher mean difference of ergosterol (0.6395 �g g-1) compared to infected palms but treated with phenolic acids. Combinations of phenolics with 1.6 g a.i. suppressed Ganoderma colonization the most (-0.4379 �g g-1 of ergosterol), though, the suppression was no significant in comparison to other treatments such as 0.4 g a.i., 0.8 g a.i. and 1.2 g a.i.. Ganoderma was isolated on GSM from all oil palm tissues either treated or untreated with the phenolics acids suggesting the pathogen was suppressed but not killed after treated. However, there was no colony of G. boninense form on the GSM from the soil samples collected after observation for one month. References Ahmed, E. Y. & Carlstrom, C. 2003. Food Microbiology: A Laboratory Manual. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 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