Abstract
Postharvest diseases cause considerable losses to harvested fruits and vegetables during transportation and storage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal potential of Thymus danensis and Thymus carmanicus against fourpostharvest pathogenic fungi (Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillium digitatum, Aspergillus niger and Botrytis cinerea) which can reduce the shelf life of strawberry fruit. Thechemical composition of plant oils was determined by capillary gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Antifungal assays were carried out in vitro using PDA plates. Antifungal potential was found for 2 analysed essential oils. T. carmanicusoils have chemical compositions characterized by carvacrol (70%), p-cymene (12.4%) and γ-terpinene (2.5%) as the major components while the major constituents of the T. danensis were thymol (64.8%), α-terpinene (11.3%) and p-cymene (7.9%). Thymus sp. oils showed inhibitory effect even at low concentration (300 µl/L) against B. cinerea and R. stolonifer and showed inhibitory effect againstA. niger and P. digitatum at 600 µl/L. Both essential oils tested in vivo at the preliminary concentration exhibited inhibitory activity against the four pathogens. Key words: Thymus danensis, Thymus carmanicus, antifungal activity.
Highlights
Postharvest diseases cause heavy losses of fruits during storage
The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal potential of Thymus danensis and Thymus carmanicus against four postharvest pathogenic fungi (Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillium digitatum, Aspergillus niger and Botrytis cinerea) which can reduce the shelf life of strawberry fruit
T. carmanicus oils have chemical compositions characterized by carvacrol (70%), p-cymene (12.4%) and γ-terpinene (2.5%) as the major components while the major constituents of the T. danensis were thymol (64.8%), α-terpinene (11.3%) and p-cymene (7.9%)
Summary
Postharvest diseases cause heavy losses of fruits during storage. The species reported to damage strawberries during this period include Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillium digitatum, Aspergillus niger, and Botrytis cinerea. There have been some studies on the effects of essential oils on postharvest pathogens (Bishop and Thornton, 1997). These essential oils are thought to play a role in plant defence mechanisms against phytopathogenic microorganisms (Mihaliak et al, 1991). There are some reports on essential oils in enhancing the storage life of fruit and vegetables by controlling their fungal rotting. Dubey and Kishore (1988) found that the essential oils from leaves of Melaleuca leucadendron, Ocimum canum and Citrus medica were able to protect several stored food commodities from biodeterioration caused by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus versicolor There are some reports on essential oils in enhancing the storage life of fruit and vegetables by controlling their fungal rotting. Dubey and Kishore (1988) found that the essential oils from leaves of Melaleuca leucadendron, Ocimum canum and Citrus medica were able to protect several stored food commodities from biodeterioration caused by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus versicolor
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