Abstract
In recent years great attention was paid to biological control, the application of natural products in order to protect crops and medicinal plants against contamination with phytopathogenic and saprophytic fungi. Essential oils have been evaluated as a potentially safe replacement for chemicals used for that purpose. In this regard, antifungal potential of six essential oils was examined coupled with determination of the complete qualitative and quantitative chemical composition by GC-FID and GC-MS analysis. While essential oils of rosemary, sage, Spanish sage and black pepper were exclusively composed of monoterpenes, vetiver essential oil was entirely composed of sesquiterpenes. In essential oil of cinnamon dominates (E)-cinnamaldehyde. Applying the in vitro microdilution method, it was found that all essential oils were active in inhibiting the growth of all tested 21 pre- and post-harvest phytopathogenic and saprophytic fungi. MIC and MFC ranged from 1.2 mg ml-1 up to 22.6 mg ml-1 according to the test oil. Rosemary oil showed the best antifungal potential, followed by black pepper and cinnamon oil. Sage and Spanish sage oils also exhibited significant antifungal potential. Vetiver oil demonstrated the lowest antifungal activity. Essential oils that showed considerable antifungal potential are good candidates for further examination of their use in preventing and/or protection of medicinal plants, their seeds and dried drugs against fungal infections, both in the field and in warehouses.
Highlights
The safety and quality of most agricultural crops and productsas well as medicinal plants and herbal drugs is constantly threatened, amongst other, with fungal infections leading to crop loses and post-harvest decay
Antifungal potential of six essential oils was examined coupled with determination of the complete qualitative and quantitative chemical composition by Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis
While essential oils of rosemary, sage, Spanish sage and black pepper were exclusively composed of monoterpenes, vetiver essential oil was entirely composed of sesquiterpenes
Summary
The safety and quality of most agricultural crops and productsas well as medicinal plants and herbal drugs is constantly threatened, amongst other, with fungal infections leading to crop loses and post-harvest decay. There is a strong debate about the safety aspects of chemical preservatives since they are considered responsible for many carcinogenic and teratogenic attributes as well as residual toxicity [2] All this creates a significant market opportunity for alternative products; natural biocontrol agents based on plantessential oils as alternative crop and medicinal plants protectants whose time has come [3]. Plant-derived essential oils and extracts are considered as non-phytotoxic compounds and potentially effective against many fungal pathogens [5,6,7] They have a broad spectrum of antifungal properties and they are environmentally friendly (biodegradable, do not leave toxic residues or byproducts to contaminate the environment) [8]
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