Antifungal activity of essential oil against Botrytis cinerea in Vitis vinífera L

Abstract

Grapes ( Vitis vinífera L) is extensively cultivated and widely consumed fruit world wide But it is also very highly susceptible to fungal infections such as B cinérea which increases post-harvest losses, quality deterioration, and making it unsuitable for human consumption. This results in significant economic loss of grapes and impacts grape farmers’ profits. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify potential methods and approaches to decrease post-harvest losses of grapes caused by B. cinérea. Currently, synthetic fungicides are used to control grape infections which has harmful impact on the environment and human health. Therefore, essential oil from plants sources could be a potential alternative to synthetic fungicides. In this study, antifungal activity of three essential oils was evaluated against B. cinérea using fumigation method. In an in vitro study, the essential oils extracted from Zingiber officinale and Saturaga montana, each at a concentration of 4mg/mL, exhibited complete inhibition (100%) of fungal growth. The physiological study of fruit in term of TSS, pH and weight loss showed that there is slow deterioration of fruit during storage. In-vivo results showed that essential oil from natural source can be potential alternative for synthetic fungicides which is ecofriendly and effective to control diseases and post-harvest losses in grapes.