Natural essential oils from lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) to control postharvest anthracnose of mango fruit

Abstract

Efficacy of essential oil extracted from lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf.) on controlling postharvest anthracnose of mango fruit, Nam Dokmai, compared with a fungicide was evaluated before and after inoculation using spore suspension of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The experiment was carried out at Rajamangala University of Technology, Suvarnabhumi, Ayudhya Huntra, Thailand, by means of Completely Randomised Design (CRD) with four replications. The result showed that mango dipped into lemon grass oil at 4000 ppm concentration in hot water before and after inoculation gave the minimal disease scores with the means of 2.40 and 1.85, respectively, while the average disease scores from hot water treatment with carbendazim at 100 ppm concentration were 2.60 and 1.95, respectively.