Fungicide potential of citronella and tea tree essential oils against tomato cultivation’s phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and analysis of their chemical composition by GC/MS

Abstract

Tomato is one of the most produced and consumed fruits in the world, however it is a crop that faces several phytosanitary problems, such as fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate citronella and melaleuca essential oils in vitro potential in the fungus F. oxysporum management. The chemical identification of the components in the essential oils was performed by gas chromatography with flame ionization and mass spectrometer detectors. The IC50 and IC90 were determined by linear regression and the percentage of inhibition of the fungus by analysis of variance. The major compounds in citronella essential oil were citronellal, geraniol and citronellol; in melaleuca (tea tree) oil were terpinen-4-ol and α-terpinene.Both oils promoted greater inhibition at concentrations of 1.5 and 2.5 μL/mL, besides not presenting significant difference with commercial fungicide, confirming the high potential for use of this control method in agriculture.