Antifungal Activity of Essential Oils of Melaleuca alternifolia, Psidium guajava and Zingiber officinale in the Management of Grey Mould of Chilli

Essential oils of Melaleuca alternifolia, Psidium guajava and Zingiber officinale were tested against the test pathogen Botrytis cinerea the causal organism of grey mold of chilli. The pathogenicity of the test fungus was confirmed by inoculating the pathogen in the chilli fruits. The MIC of essential oils of M. alternifolia, P. guazava and Z.officinale were found to be 200µl/l, 300µl/l and 500µl/l respectively. The essential oils of M. alternifolia and Z. officinale were found to be 100 percent inhibitory to spore germination at 0.02% and 0.05% respective concentrations of the oils, while the essential oil of P. guajava was found to be 90.5 percent active at the 0.03% concentration of oil. The essential oils of M. alternifolia, P. guajava and Z. officinale, were found to enhance the shelf life of chilli fruits when applied as fumigant and enhanced the shelf life for 5 days, 4 days and 6 days respectively. The fruits were given dip treatments with the essential oils of M. alternifolia, P. guajava and Z. officinale and it was found that the oils by dip treatment enhanced the shelf life for 7 days, 4 days and 8 days respectively.

Alka Rani1 and Pramila Tripathi*2 Click here to download file

Research Article | Published online : 04-Aug-2022