Assessment of Mint, Basil, and Lavender Essential Oil Vapor-Phase in Antifungal Protection and Lemon Fruit Quality.

Iuliana Popescu,Monica Negrea,Diana Obistioiu,Isidora Radulov,Ileana Cocan,Radu L Sumalan,Ersilia Alexa,Renata M Sumalan,Raufdzhon Kuganov,Amonullo F Salimzoda

doi:10.3390/molecules25081831

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in developing natural methods to replace the current chemicals used for maintaining postharvest quality of citrus fruits. The essential oil antifungal activity of mint (MEO), basil (BEO), and lavender (LEO) acting as the vapor-phases was tested against Penicillium digitatum. The minimum doses with fungistatic and fungicidal effect, in vitro, acting as the vapor-phases, were set up. The minimum fungicidal dose was 300 μL for BEO and 350 μL LEO, while for MEO only minimal dose with fungistatic effect was reached. The IC50 values were calculated and used (v/v) for testing preservation of lemon fruits, in close space enriched in vapor oil. For this purpose, the following two independent in vivo experiments were carried out: experiment 1, inoculated lemons with P. digitatum stored without chemical treatments 7 days, at 22 ± 2 °C, at two concentrations (C1—IC50 equivalent; C2—half of C1); and experiment 2, the non-inoculated lemons kept under the same conditions and concentrations of EO vapor served to evaluate the lemon quality properties. The results showed that antifungal protective effect was provided in the order of LEO-C1 > BEO-C1 > MEO-C1 > BEO-C2 > MEO-C2 > LEO-C2. The quality indicators like weight loss, pH, and firmness were not negatively influenced.

Highlights

Nowadays, the major concern in postharvest research is keeping the phytonutrients, which assures the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables while minimizing the losses during storage [1]
Due to the volatilization properties, essential oils represent a natural method with high potential for use in preserving or storing organic fruits and vegetables
essential oils (EOs) utilized in the vapor-phase could be effective against fungal deteriorations

Summary

Introduction

The major concern in postharvest research is keeping the phytonutrients, which assures the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables while minimizing the losses during storage [1]. Because consumers are more and more concerned about the use of synthetic preservatives, the exploitation of natural compounds has been intensively researched in recent years [6,7,8,9,10]. The antifungal activity of EOs has been known and used for centuries, and nowadays efforts to promote natural compounds in post-harvest control of horticultural products have led to an increased interest in their possible applications [19,20,21,22,23]. A particular problem regarding the use of essential oils is related to the decrease in concentration of bioactive compounds due to evaporation [24]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion