TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a Process for the preparation of antifungal activity rich root powder of Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn. BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART OF THE INVENTION Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Am., (swallow root) belonging to Asclepidaceae is a monogeneric climbing shrub native of the Deccan peninsula and forest areas of Western Ghats of India. It finds use as a culinary spice due to its high priced aromatic roots. The roots are markedly fleshy, cylindrical (1-6 cm diameter ) are characterized by a sarasaparilla like taste accompanied by a tingling sensation on the tongue as described in Wealth of India 1952 (Wealth of India 1952, A dictionary of raw materials , CSIR, New Delhi 3: 24). The roots of D. hamiltonii are used as a flavouring principle (Wealth of India, 1990), appetizer (Murthi, P. B. R., and Seshadri, T.R. Proc. Ind.Acad.Sci. 1947; 13A, 221), blood purifier (Jacob, K.C. Madras Agric. Journal. An unrecorded economic product Decalepis hamiltonii W & Arn., Family Asclepidaceae 1937; 25; 176), and preservative (Phadke, N.Y., Gholap A.S., Ramakrishnan K, Subbulakshmi G. , J.Food Sci.Technol. 1994; 31 , 472). Similarly the roots of this taxon as described by Nayar et al. (1978) (Nayar RC, Shetty JKP, Mary Z and Yoganrasimhan 1978. Pharmacological studies of root of Decalepis hamiltonii W & Arn and comparison with Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br. Proc. Indian Acad. Sciences 87 (B) : 37-48) are considered as "Sariva Bheda" in Ayurveda where finds use as an alternative to roots of Hemidesmus indicus in the preparation of several herbal drugs like Amrutamalaka taila, Drakshadi churna, shatavari rasayana and yeshtimadhu taila. The roots contain 92% fleshy matter and 8% woody core. Of late the highly aromatic roots have been subjected to over exploitation by destructive harvesting that has endangered the survival of this plant. In the earlier reports by George et al. (George ,J. ' Perira,J., Divakar.S., Udayasankar.K and Ravishankar,G.A. Current Science ,1999; 77, 501-502) it was observed that the aromatic roots of D. hamiltonii proved to be a potent bioinsecticide on storage pests at lethal and sub-lethal levels (Indian Patent No. 1301/Del/98). The supercritical extracts of these roots proved to be potent antimicrobial agents (George, J., Udayasankar, K., Keshava, N and Ravishankar, G.A. Fitoterapia 1999; 70, 172-174). George, J., Bais,H.P. and Ravishankar.G.A. {Current Science, 2000; 79:894-898) were able to regenerate plantlets of D.hamiltonii W&A from leaf callus. Similarly a method for rooting of Decalepis hamiltonii for field transfer was reported earlier (Bais HP, Sudha G, Suresh B &. Ravishankar GA, Curr. Sci, 2000, 79: 408-410; Obul Reddy, B., Giridhar, P and Ravishankar G.A, Current Science 81 (11), 2001 , 1479-1482). Most of the Food commodities are vulnerable to storage fungi during storage and responsible for 20-30 % loss before reaching the consumers. Along with insects, fungi also acts as culprits for this loss. Among the storage fungi Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Penicillium, Fusarium along with Cladosporium species are the most predominant ones. Some of these fungi produce toxic secondary metabolites called as mycotoxins. The mycotoxins principally aflatoxins, trichothecenes and Penicillium toxins may be embryo toxic, cytotoxic, teratogenic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and estrogenic to birds and animals even at low doses (Patterson D.S.P., 1976, Can. Nature Dietet 2 (suppl) 76). Visualizing the seriousness of mycotoxin problem, practical approach to control of mycotoxin contamination is of paramount importance. A large number of methods like using ammonia (Gardner H. K., Koultun S. P., Dollear F.; G., and Rayner E.T., 1971. Inactivation of aflatoxins in peanut and cotton seed meals by ammonification. J. Amer. Oil. Chem. Soc. 48: 70-73), fungicides (Masood A and Ranjan K.S., 1990. Influences of fungitoxicants on growth and aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus. Let. Appl. Microbiol 11 : 197-201), volatile compounds (Hareesh Vardhan Rao, P., Giridhar, P. and Reddy S. M., 1996. Effect of volatile compounds on seed mycoflora of sorghum. Ind. Phytopath.Soc. 49: 41-44), plant growth regulators (Krishna Reddy V and Reddy S. M., 1989. Efficacy of certain volatile compounds in the control of cyclopiazonic acid production by Penicillium griseofulvum . Nat. Acad. Sci. let. India 12: 76-77; Giridhar P and Reddy S. M., 1997a. Effect of growth regulators on growth, citrinin production by Penicillium citrinum. Nat. Acad of Sci. Letters. 20:62-63), food preservatives (Krishna Reddy V and Reddy S. M. ,1990. Efficacy of certain food preservatives in the control of cyclopiazonic acid production by Penicillium griseofulvum. J. Food Sci. Technol. 27; 180-181 ; Giridhar P and Reddy S. M., 1997b. Inhibitory effect of black pepper on growth and toxin production of toxigenic fungi. J lnd Bot. Soc. 76: 43-45), polyamine biosynthesis inhibitors (Giridhar P and Reddy S. M., 1998. The effect of some polyamine biosynthesis inhibitors on mycotoxin production by Aspergillus terreus. Nat. Acad. Sci, Letters (India) 21 : 5-8; Giridhar P., Reddy S.M. and Rajam M.V., 1997. Control of Penicillium citrinum growth and citrinin production by Penicillium citrinum. lnd Phytopath. Soc. 50, 33-36; Giridhar P., Reddy S.M. and Rajam M.V., 1999. Effect of inhibitors of polyamine biosynthesis inhibitors on aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A production. Advances in plant Sciences, India 12: 41-44) have been suggested from time to time for the control of mycotoxin contamination in agricultural commodities. Like botanicals against insects, plants may offer as a source of antifungal agents for use and produce a great deal of secondary metabolites, many of them with antifungal activity. Well known examples of these compounds includes flavanoids, phenols, phenoloic glycosides, unsaturated lactones, sulphur compounds saponins, (Gomez Garibay F., Reyes Chilpa R., Quijano L., Calderon Pardo J. S, and Rios Castillo, T. ,1990. Metjoxifurans auronols with fungistatic activity from lonchocaφus castilloi. Phytochemistry 29: 459-463; Grayer R.J. and Harbome J. B., 1994. A survey of antifungal compounds from plants. Phytochemistry 37: 19-42; Osboune A.E., 1996. Performed antimicrobial compounds and plant defense against fungal attack. The Plant Cell. 8: 1821-1831). Antifungal action of plant extracts has got great potential as they can be handled easily and they lack residual effect, systematic in their activity, easily biodegradable, stimulate-host metabolism etc., In recent times the anitmicrobial properties of some plant constituents are being exploited in protecting man from moulds and mycotoxicosis (Bilgrami, K.S., Misra, R. S., Sinha K.K. and Premlata Singh., 1980. Effect of some wild and medicinal plant growth of Aspergillus flavus in liquid culture. Indian J. Bot .Soc. 59: 123-126; Giridhar P., and Reddy S.M., 1996. Effect of some plant extracts on citrinin production by Penicillium citrinum in vitro. J lnd Bot Soc. 75: 153-154). Use of plants for their antimicrobial and antifungal properties has been a subject of wide interest. Under this context an attempt was made to exploit the Antifungal nature of the tuberous root extracts of Decalepis hamiltonii. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is aimed at development of a Process for the preparation of antifungal activity rich root powder of Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The main object of the present invention provides a use of root powder from tuberous root extracts of Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn. for antifungal activity Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a process for prepraring antifungal activity rich root powder from tuberous root extracts of Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the main embodiment of the present invention relates to a use of root powder from the roots Decalepis hamiltonii for antifungal activity, optionally along with pharmaceutically acceptable excipients or carriers. Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a process for the preparing antifungal activity rich root powder of Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn. said process comprising the steps of: (a) sterilizing the Decalepis hamiltonii tubers with alcohol, (b) drying the tubers at temperature of about 50°C for about 48 hrs. and grinding the tubers, (c) extracting the tuberous root extract by adding dichloromethane to obtain a primary extract, and (d) repeating the step (c) thrice with dichloromethane to enhance the concentration of the extract, (e) concentrating the primary extract obtained from step (c) and extracts obtained from step (d) to obtain a antifungal activity rich extract, and (f) air-drying the extract to obtain a fine powder of the root extract. Still another embodiment of the present invention relates to the concentration of the extract wherein concentration of extract is in the range of about 80 to 600 mg. Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to the concentration of the extract wherein concentration of extract is in the range of about 100 to 500 mg. One more embodiment of the present invention relates to the fungal inhibition wherein fungal inhibition is 100%. Still another embodiment of the present invention relates fungal mycelial inhibition wherein 0.75 mg of root powder inhibited the mycelial growth of fungi. Another embodiment of the present- invention relates fungal mycelial inhibition wherein 0.50 mg of root powder inhibited the mycelial growth of fungi. One more another embodiment of the present invention relates to the inhibition of fungal species by the root powder wherein the root powder is efficient against fungi species selected from group consisting of Apergillus sp., Penicilliun sp., Fusarium sp. and Rhizopus sp. Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates the inhibition f the fungal species by the root powder wherein fungi are selected from group consisting of Apergillus flavus, Penicilliun notatum, Fusarium species, Rhizopus oligosporus. Still another embodiment of the present invention relates to prevention of fungal infection on the stored seeds wherein 7 gm of root powder prevents fungal infection of stored seeds. One more embodiment of the present invention relates to tprevention of fungal infection on the stored seeds wherein 5 gm of root powder prevents fungal infection of stored seeds. Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to the reduction in seed loss wherein 5 gm of root powder reduced the seed loss in the range of about 15- 20 %. Another embodiment of the present invention relates to reduction in seed loss wherein 5 gm of root powder reduced the seed loss in the range of about 12 - 14 %. Still another embodiment of the present invention relates to the a process as wherein in step (a) the tuberous roots are surface sterilized in 200 ml 70 - 75% alcohol for 5-10 seconds. One more embodiment of the present invention relates to a process wherein the alcohol is about 70%. Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to a process wherein the dichloromethane extracts obtained from the roots is in a ratio of 1 :3 to get an antifungal activity of the root powder.

The following examples are given by way of illustration of the present invention: EXAMPLES EXAMPLE-1 Fresh tubers of Decalepis hamiltonii were collected from local market and sorted out to a required size (approximately 10.0 ±1.0 cm lengths and 2.0 ±0.5 cm diameters). The tubers were cleaned off extraneous matter and soil with 1-2 liters of cold water (15 ±2 0C) / 500 gm tubers. Later they were surface sterilized first with 200 ml of 70% alcohol for 5 seconds followed by washing with sterile water thrice. The surface of the tubers was blotted with sterilized blotting paper. The tubers were kept in oven for drying at 500C for 48hrs. Later they were grounded into fine powder. Dichloromethane was added to the root powder (double to the weight of the powder) and left overnight in dark. Later the dichloromethane extract was separated by using the separating funnel. The same is repeated thrice with dichloromethane. Later all the dichloromethane fraction were pooled. The same is air dried and finally dissolved in 1 ml ethanol and preserved in low temperature and dark for further analysis. The combined extracts were passed through a funnel containing anhydrous sodium sulphate to remove the water content, concentrated in a flash evaporator and dissolved in 1ml ethanol and stored in closed vials. Quantification of the flavour compound was determined by gas chromatographic analysis (GC) using flame ionization detection (FID). All the alcohol extracts were finally analyzed for the flavour content 2-hydroxy - 4- methoxy benzaldehyde by GC-MS. Analysis of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde (2H4MB) was done by spotting the root extracts on TLC plate along with standard (Fluka Chemicals, Switzerland) and run in a solvent system comprising of Hexane: Benzene (1 :1). Rf of spot coinciding with that of standard (2H4MB) (0.47) was eluted in solvent and UV spectrum was measured on a Perken-Elmer UV-Vis recording spectrophotometer UV-160. Maximum absorption was obtained at 278nm. Quantitative detection was done by GC. The constituent was confirmed by comparison with GC retention time of standard sample. The concentrated volatiles were separated by GC, flame ionization detector (FID) with capillary column and GC-MS analysis using a Shimadzu, GC-14B coupled with QP 5000 MS system under the following conditions SPB-1 column (Supelco, USA, 30 m x 0.32 mm, 0.25 μM film thickness); oven temperature programme, 60° C for 2 min, rising at 2°C/min to 250° C, held for 5 min; injection port temperature 225° C; detector temperature, 250° C; carrier gas helium, flow rate 1ml min"1. The amount of solution injected was 1 ul for analysis. EXAMPLE 2 Antifungal activity of tuberous root powder D.hamiltonii root powders in vitro The dry root powder prepared as said above is used for the Antifungal activity studies. Similarly D. hamiltonii, root powder (dried) at different concentrations (5 mg to 1 gm ) was added to 150 ml Erlenmeyer conical flasks containing 50 ml of PDA broth each and then autoclaved at 1210C for 15 minutes. To the cool media flasks the spore inoculums of fungi (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium notatum, Fusarium sp,, Rhizopus oligorsporus) were added. For preparing the spore inoculums, fresh culture were made on PDA slants and incubated for 7 days. Then the spores of the respective fungi were used to prepare spore suspension or inoculum in 0.1 % sodium lauryl sulphate and diluted ultimately to get a spore density of ~ 2.5 X 106 spore / ml). Three replicates were maintained and the controls are without the root powder. The inoculated flasks were incubated in dark for 15 days at 25 ± 10C. After incubation the cultures were harvested and the dry weight of the mycelium recorded to see the extent of inhibition of fungal growth by Decalepis root powder. Result: Decalepis root powder inhibited 50% and 100% of the growth of A. flavus at 100 and 400 mg level. Even at the lower concentrations (250 mg) the aflatoxin B1 production was also reduced compared to controls (Table.1). Similarly the Decalepis root powder inhibited the mycelial growth of other fungi such as A. niger and Fusarium sp ( at 0.5 mg of root powder/ 50ml medium), Penicillium notatum (at 250 mg of root powder / 50 ml of medium and Rhizopus oligosporus (at 2.5g of root powder / 50 ml of medium) (Table 1 ) Table.1 Antifungal activity of D. hamiltonii root powder in vitro

Values are an average of three replicates EXAMPLE - 3 Fresh tubers of Decalepis hamiltonii were collected from local market and sorted out to a required size (approximately 10.0 ± 1.0 cm length and 2.0 ± 0.5 cm diameter). The tubers were cleaned off extraneous matter and soil with 1-2 liters of cold water (15 ±2 0C) / 500 gm tubers. Later they were surface sterilized first with 200 ml of 70% alcohol for 5 seconds followed by washing with sterile water thrice. The surface of the tubers was blotted with sterilized blotting paper. The tubers were kept in oven for drying at 500C for 48hrs. Later they were grounded into fine powder. Dichloromethane was added to the root powder (double to the weight of the powder) and left overnight in dark. Later the dichloromethane extract was separated by using the separating funnel. The same is repeated thrice with dichloromethane. Later all the dichloromethane fraction were pooled. The same is air dried and finally dissolved in 1 ml ethanol and preserved in low temperature and dark for further analysis. The combined extracts were passed through a funnel containing anhydrous sodium sulphate to remove the water content, concentrated in a flash evaporator and dissolved in 1ml ethanol and stored in closed vials. Quantification of the flavour compound was determined by gas chromatographic analysis (GC) using flame ionization detection (FID). All the alcohol extracts were finally analyzed for the flavour content 2-hydroxy - 4- methoxy benzaldehyde by GC-MS. Analysis of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde (2H4MB) was done by spotting the root extracts on TLC plate along with standard (Fluka Chemicals, Switzerland) and run in a solvent system comprising of Hexane: Benzene (1 :1). Rf of spot coinciding with that of standard (2H4MB) (0.47) was eluted in solvent and UV spectrum was measured on a Perken-Elmer UV-Vis recording spectrophotometer UV-160. Maximum absorption was obtained at 278nm. Quantitative detection was done by GC. The constituent was confirmed by comparison with GC retention time of standard sample. The concentrated volatiles were separated by GC, flame ionization detector (FID) with capillary column and GC-MS analysis using a Shimadzu, GC-14B coupled with QP 5000 MS system under the following conditions SPB-1 column (Supelco, USA, 30 m x 0.32 mm, 0.25 μM film thickness); oven temperature programme, 60° C for 2 min, rising at 2°C/min to 250° C, held for 5 min; injection port temperature 225° C; detector temperature, 250° C; carrier gas helium, flow rate 1ml min'1. The amount of solution injected was IuI for analysis. The dry root powder prepared as said above is used for the Antifungal activity studies. EXAMPLE 4 Antifungal activity of Decalepis hamiltonii root powder in vivo The experiments were conducted using a powder of air-dried root of D. hamiltonii. Batches of 50 g of surface sterilized (with 0.1 % mercuric chloride for 15 minutes) seeds of chick pea seeds (pre-conditioned to a moisture level within 12.5%), each taken in 200 ml glass bottles, were mixed uniformly with 2.5 gm and 5 gm of finely powdered root (80 mesh size). Fungal inoculums were prepared as mentioned above. One ml of fungal spore suspension along with, 4 ml of sterile distilled water was added to the seeds. The control flask seeds are without root powder. 3 replicates per treatment and respective controls were maintained. The bottle tops were covered with muslin cloth and incubated at 27±1°C and 70 ± 10% RH for four weeks. Fungal growth was recorded 3 weeks of post treatment. The fungal growth was confirmed by observing the seeds under microscope by using the lactophenol-cotton blue. Result: Out of the four different fungi tried, in all controls respective fungi growth was present. At 2.5 g / 50 gm seeds also fungal growth was noticed. But in all the fungal treatments at 5 gm of root powder / 5Og seeds concentration the respective fungi growth was completely inhibited except Aspergillus niger. (Table. 2). This indicates that the Decalepis root powders are effective in inhibiting the fungal incidence on seeds during storage at a concentration of 5g/ 50 g of seeds. Further studies indicate that there was no impact of this root powder on the germination of the seed, because 90-100% germination was noticed in root powder treated seeds. Table.2 Antifungal activity of D. hamiltonii in vivo Name of the fungus Cone. Of root Fungal growth Seed loss of powder (gm) weight (%) Aspergillus flavus control + 24.77 2.5 + 15.0 5.0 Absent 12.5 Penicllium notatum control + 19.66 2.5 + 17.75 5.0 + 13.37 Fusarium sp. Control + 27.29 2.5 + 20.50 5.0 Absent 12.34 Aspergillus niger control + 20.50 2.5 + 19.50 5.0 + 16.65 Values are an average of three replicates

The predominant flavour compound of Decalepis root extracts is 2-hydroxy 4 methoxy benzaldehyde (99% ) as reported earlier (Nagarajan S., Jagan Mohan Rao L, Gurudutt K N., Chemical composition of the volatiles of Decalepis hamiltonii Wight and Am., Flavour Fragrance Journal , 16, 2001 , 27-28) along with other minor constituents such as vanillin (0.4 %) etc. An attempt was made to study the antifungal activity of the synthetic 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy benzaldehyde (Fluka, Switzerland). This compound showed good antifungal activity against some of the storage fungi which varied with the concentration of the compound used. At 2.5 mg/ 50 ml medium almost 100% inhibition of the growth of Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium sp, Penicillium notatum and Cladosporium sp was noticed. Even at 1.0 gm/50 ml of the medium level 50% inhibition of the test fungi was observed. But incase of Rhizopus oligosporus at 5 gm of root powder / 50 ml of medium 100 % inhibition was resulted. These results were further supporting the Antifungal activity of the root powder of the Decalepis hamiltonii reporting here. The main advantages of the present invention are: 1. The identification and reporting of antifungal activity of root powder of D. hamiltonii against some storage fungi such as Aspergillus niger, Fusarium sp., Cladosporium sp., Penicillium notatum etc. 2. The application of Decalepis tubers powder as Antifungal agent for enhancing the shelf life.