Antifungal activity of essential oil-encapsulated lipid nanoemulsions formulations against leaf spot disease on tomato caused by Alternaria alternata

Abstract

This study aimed to find out the optimal formulation of essential oil-encapsulated lipid nanoemulsions (EO-LNs) by comparing antifungal activity against leaf spot disease caused by Alternaria alternata on tomato plants of 10 different EO-LNs, followed by their binary and ternary combinations. Firstly, 10 EO-LNs and their combined formulations were prepared and their in-vitro antifungal activity was evaluated using petri dish bioassay. Next, ex-vitro disease-prevention and disease-treatment experiments of the optimal EO-LNs formulation were carried out in the greenhouse. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in in-vitro antifungal activity against Alternaria alternata among 10 EO-LNs and their combined formulations. Overall, NaChiGarCin (the ternary combination of chili oil-encapsulated LNs, garlic oil-encapsulated LNs, cinnamon oil-encapsulated LNs) exhibited the highest in-vitro antifungal activity. Under ex-vitro condition, NaChiGarCin at an EO-concentration of 200 ppm showed the highest disease-preventing and treating effectiveness (above 80%) and showed no negative effect on the plant growth. Supplemental data for this article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03235408.2021.2015887 .