Antifungal activity of plant essential oils against Verticillium dahliae Klebahn, the causal agent of verticillium wilt of pepper

Abstract

Biofungicides based on plant oils have some advantages compared to chemical fungicides, especially considering their harmful effect on the environment. Twenty-two essential oils from Germany and Albania were assayed for inhibitory and fungicidal activity against Verticillium dahliae Klebahn, the causal agent of Verticillium wilt of pepper, using the macrodilution fumigant method. The concentrations of oils obtained in the vapour phase were: 0.02, 0.04, 0.08, 0.16 and 0.32 μl ml-1 with determined minimum inhibitory and fungicidal concentrations. The strongest activity was shown by two samples of mint oil (Mentha piperita L.) at 0.02 μl ml-1 of air, both from Germany and Albania, followed by plant essential oils of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus Labilardie), black pine (Pinus nigra L.) and cade (Juniperus oxycedrus L.), and all of them were lethal to the pathogen. Nine oils: two samples of mint, cade, eucalyptus, black pine, lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.), sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) inhibited the growth of Verticillium dahliae, while five oils (two samples of mint, eucalyptus, black pine and cade) showed fungicidal effects on the pathogen. These results showed that mint, eucalyptus, black pine and cade essential oils have a potential for further in vivo experiments against Verticillium dahliae.

Toxicity of plant essential oils to Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) barr, the causal agent of chestnut blight

“…michiganensis and Pseudomonas tolaasii, the pathogens of common bean, tomato and cultivated mushroom. On the other hand, mint oil samples showed the strongest activity at 0.02 μl ml -1 of air, followed by eucalyptus, black pine and cade in a study against V. dahliae (Luković et al, 2019), all oils being lethal to the tested fungus. Similar results were obtained in the current study, where the strongest activity towards two isolates of C. parasitica was shown by two samples of mint oil and black pine at 0.02 μl ml -1 of air, followed by eucalyptus, black pine, cade, sage and silver fir, which were also lethal.…”

“…P. nigra EO was dominated by α-pinene (24.9 -28.9%) and germacrene D (20.3 -31.9%). In the study by Luković et al (2019), 1.8-cineole was identified as the dominant oil component of eucalyptus essential oil (82.8%).…”

“…In an analysis of 22 essential oils, those of wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens L.), lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus Stapf.) and oregano, demonstrated the strongest antimicrobial activity against three bacteria that are pathogenic to common bean, tomato and cultivated mushroom (Todorović et al, 2016), while the oils of mint (Mentha piperita L.), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus Labilardie), black pine (Pinus nigra L.) and cade (Juniperus oxycedrus L) showed the strongest antifungal activity against Verticillium dahliae Klebahn, a pathogen of pepper (Luković et al, 2019).…”

Antifungal and synergistic activity of five plant essential oils from Serbia against Trichoderma aggressivum f. europaeum Samuels & W. Gams

“…michiganensis and Pseudomonas tolaasii) that are pathogens of common bean, tomato and cultivated mushroom. On the other hand, two mint oil samples showed the strongest activity at 0.02 µl ml -1 of air (followed by eucalyptus, black pine and cade) against Verticillium dahliae, a pathogenic fungus of pepper (Luković et al, 2019a), and against Chryphonecria parasitica (followed by black pine, eucalyptus, cade, sage and silver fir), a pathogenic fungus of chestnut (Luković et al, 2019b). Many publications have reported significant antifungal activity of various EOs against important button mushroom pathogens: L. fungicola var.…”