A review on detailed understanding and recent advances on Colletotrichum capsici causing anthracnose of chilli.

Chilli is one of the most significant spice crops cultivated with numerous culinary, medicinal, and industrial applications. Colletotrichum have a wide host range causing anthracnose disease in various crops whereas in chili anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum capsici is the major constraint in chili production. Under severe environmental conditions, the symptoms appear all over the plant including fruit which lead to complete crop damage. The particular disease has a huge economic impact on yield reduction and also debars the export criteria due to the less quality of chili crop. Management of the disease is difficult under field conditions and majority of the management strategies are highly dependent on the use of chemicals. Solely rely on chemicals is harmful to environmental and human health so integrated disease management approach can help to manage the disease at the initial stage. Detection and identification of pathogen play a major role in pathogen management. Early identification and detection of the pathogen based on conventional and molecular methods are very important to reduce yield loss under field conditions. The current review consists of a detailed understanding of the pathogen, identification, detection and diagnosis, and the most recent research updates.