To Investigate the Antifungal Efficacy of Plant Extracts on Post-Harvest Fungal Pathogen

Abstract

Botrytis cinerea (which can cause gray mould), Penecillium spp. (which can cause blue green mould) a global important post-harvest disease. Pathogens can affect the fruits and vegetables in a wide range of host, which is economically a heavy loss. Post-harvest fungal disease control strategies are under demand in food production due to antifungal agent’s resistance against fungal pathogens. Neem (Azadirachta indica), Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globules) and Moringa (Moringa oleifera) plant extracts have the possibilities to be efficient against post-harvest gray mould and blue-green mould and will be used under invitro conditions for antifungal activities. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the plant extracts potency under invitro conditions for antifungal activity against fungal pathogen. The natural plant extracts having different degrees of antifungal efficacy against pathogenic agent. Comparison study between the antifungal activities of different plants extracts and fungicides determine which is the most effective plant extract against various fungal pathogens. It can be concluded that Neem and Moringa extracts showed relatively higher efficacy in inhibiting the growth of B. cinerea, with inhibition rates of 53% and 57% respectively, at a concentration of 300 mg/ml. Eucalyptus extract exhibited a moderate inhibitory effect with a 36.66% reduction in growth. In contrast, for Penecillium, Neem extract proved to be the most effective, inhibiting growth by 54.5%, followed by Eucalyptus at 43% and Moringa at 16.96% at the same concentration. These results suggest that the choice of plant extract may need to be tailored to the specific pathogen in question. When compared to the commonly used commercial fungicide Mancozeb, it was observed that Neem and Moringa extracts outperformed Mancozeb in inhibiting the growth of B. cinerea. However, for Penecillium, Mancozeb was somewhat more effective. The hypothesis suggested that the use of natural plant extracts as an alternative source to mock antifungal agents may offer a sustainable solution against fungal infections.