Screening of Antifungal and Antibacterial Activity of 90 Commercial Essential Oils against 10 Pathogens of Agronomical Importance

Abstract

Nowadays, the demand for a reduction of chemical pesticides use is growing. In parallel, the development of alternative methods to protect crops from pathogens and pests is also increasing. Essential oil (EO) properties against plant pathogens are well known, and they are recognized as having an interesting potential as alternative plant protection products. In this study, 90 commercially available essential oils have been screened in vitro for antifungal and antibacterial activity against 10 plant pathogens of agronomical importance. EOs have been tested at 500 and 1000 ppm, and measures have been made at three time points for fungi (24, 72 and 120 h of contact) and every two hours for 12 h for bacteria, using Elisa microplates. Among the EOs tested, the ones from Allium sativum, Corydothymus capitatus, Cinnamomum cassia, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cymbopogon citratus, Cymbopogon flexuosus, Eugenia caryophyllus, and Litsea citrata were particularly efficient and showed activity on a large panel of pathogens. Among the pathogens tested, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium culmorum, and Fusarium graminearum were the most sensitive, while Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and Phytophthora infestans were the less sensitive. Some EOs, such as the ones from A. sativum, C. capitatus, C. cassia, C. zeylanicum, C. citratus, C. flexuosus, E. caryophyllus, and L. citrata, have a generalist effect, and are active on several pathogens (7 to 10). These oils are rich in phenols, phenylpropanoids, organosulfur compounds, and/or aldehydes. Others, such as EOs from Citrus sinensis, Melaleucacajputii, and Vanilla fragrans, seem more specific, and are only active on one to three pathogens. These oils are rich in terpenes and aldehydes.

Effect of Drying Methods on Volatile Compounds of Burdock (Arctium lappa L.) Root Tea as Revealed by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics

“…The relative contents of aldehydes (3-methylbutanal, 2-methylbutanal, pentanal, propanal, and furfural) and terpenes (β-elemene, β-Selinene, and α-Selinene) were observed more in SD than ND. Terpenes are a series of bioactive compounds which have anticancer [ 35 , 36 ] and antifungal [ 37 , 38 ] activities. The terpenes identified in this work were all sesquiterpenes (C15) that could be synthesized through the MVA pathway [ 39 ].…”

Biopesticide Trunk Injection Into Apple Trees: A Proof of Concept for the Systemic Movement of Mint and Cinnamon Essential Oils

“…Two EOs were used in this study:cinnamon EO (Cinnamomum cassia J. Presl) and mint EO (Mentha spicata L.). They both present welldocumented biopesticidal activity (Singh and Pandey, 2018;De Clerck et al, 2020) due to their insecticidal and fungicidal (Muchembled et al, 2018;Lee et al, 2020) properties, which have already led to commercial product development (Isman et al, 2011;Isman, 2020).For example, mint EO has presented an inhibition concentration between 24 and 83 mg L −1 on apple scab, depending on the strain (Muchembled et al, 2018). C. cassia, on the other hand, possesses a lethal dose 50 of 17.41 µl ml −1 on aphid Myzus persicae (Ikbal and Pavela, 2019).…”

Use of New Glycerol-Based Dendrimers for Essential Oils Encapsulation: Optimization of Stirring Time and Rate Using a Plackett—Burman Design and a Surface Response Methodology

“…In this context, biopesticides are priceless candidates to create new weeds-and crops-managing strategies. Among natural compounds from plant origin, essential oils (EOs) are increasingly used for their various biological properties [2,3].…”