Determination of antifungal activities of essential oils incorporated-pomegranate peel fibers reinforced-polyvinyl alcohol biocomposite film against mango postharvest pathogens

Abstract

Biopolymers are considered to be promising materials for the replacement of polyolefin bags in the packaging industries. In order to reduce the non-degradable packaging wastes, biocomposite films were made from polyvinyl alcohol, reinforced with chemically treated pomegranate fibers and pectin. The composition of the film was optimized in our previous research work as 2.77% fibre, 1.23% pectin and 1.94% polyvinyl alcohol used for the film preparation. Postharvest losses, in mango, occurs because of anthracnose and stem end-rot disease and the causative agents, are Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Lasiodiplodia theobromae, respectively. In order to reduce the losses caused by these fungi, biocomposite films are developed from pomegranate fibre and these films were incorporated with essential oils in order to increase their antifungal property. Antifungal property of the film, after incorporation of essential oils, such as: clove and thyme, were tested. Growth inhibition percentage was calculated, from which, it was observed that thyme oil was effective against L. theobromae and C. gloeosporioides with an inhibition percentage of ∼66% and ∼22% respectively. Thus, the packaging film shows promising results for their application in the prevention of postharvest diseases in mango.