Chapter 15 - Antipathogenic effects of plant essential oil nanoemulsions

Abstract

The idea of this chapter is to study the effects of essential oils and plant nanoemulsions against some plant pathogens. Essential oils are aromatic compounds derived from various plant materials that are characterized by high fluctuations and complex composition. Due to their known antimicrobial and antifungal properties, these compounds are highly regarded for use in pharmaceutical, food, agricultural, and cosmetic products. Also, regarding the antifungal activity of these compounds, several studies have shown that essential oils can reproduce several types of fungi, such as Candida, Zygosaccharomyces, Pichia, Penicillium, and Debaryomyces, in food products. The use of essential oils to prevent the growth of fungi and plant pathogens has been on the rise for many years, but in general, very little research has been done on nanoemulsions of essential oils. When converted into emulsions, plant materials and essential oils do not have enough solubility to penetrate plant tissues, and these problems are solved by converting this structure into a nanoemulsion. In general, it can be said that nanoemulsions of vegetable oils that can be extracted from various native plants around the world can increase the shelf life of fruits and nutrients and prevent diseases such as soft rot without damaging the fruit's texture or changing its taste.