Abstract
Botrytis cinerea is a fungus that causes gray mold on many fruit crops. Despite the availability of a large number of botryticides, the chemical control of gray mold has been hindered by the emergence of resistant strains. In this paper, tests were done to determine the botryticidal efficacy of selected plant extracts alone or combined with kresoxim-methyl. In total, eight South African medicinal plants viz Artemisia afra, Elyptropappus rhinocerotis, Galenia africana, Hypoxis hemerocallidea, Siphonochilus aetheopicus, Sutherlandia frutescens, Tulbaghia violacea and Tulbaghia alliacea were screened. Allium sativum, a plant species known to have antifungal activity, was included in the in vivo studies. For the in vitro studies, synergistic interactions between the plant extracts and the kresoxim-methyl fungicide were tested with radial growth assays. Data indicated synergistic inhibitory effects between the fungicide and the plant extracts. Next, different doses of plant extracts combined with kresoxim-methyl were used for decay inhibition studies on Granny Smith apples. Synergistic and additive effects were observed for many of the combinations. Even though this study was done using only one strain of B. cinerea, results showed that the tested indigenous South African plant species possess natural compounds that potentiate the activity of kresoxim-methyl.
Highlights
Growth of fungal pathogens leads to considerable economic losses during postharvest handling, transportation and storage of crops [1,2]
For the in vitro studies, synergistic interactions between the plant extracts and the kresoxim-methyl fungicide were tested with radial growth assays
The strongest antifungal activity in the radial growth bioassay was observed for G. africana extracts
Summary
Growth of fungal pathogens leads to considerable economic losses during postharvest handling, transportation and storage of crops [1,2]. As a result of fungicide overuse, resistant strains of these pathogens are appearing with alarming frequency [6,7] This progression of resistance has become a major problem globally, where high resistance factors have been reported and the frequencies of mutant phenotypes in the population are high. Fr) is a ubiquitous fungus causing gray mold on various crops, even when the most advanced postharvest technologies have been applied [8] It is considered an important pathogen of vegetables, ornamental plants and fruits [4,6,9]. This report offers an attractive prospect for the development of alternative strategies for controlling B. cinerea
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