Antifungal effects of some herbal extracts on Penicillium mould of citrus in laboratory conditions

Long time interval between harvesting and the consumption of citrus causes a lot of waste through fungal diseases, including citrus green mould, by Penicillium digitatum. One of the most recent methods to control post-harvest diseases is the use of plant extracts. This research was conducted on the antifungal activity of four herbs of Achillea millefolium, Allium schoenoprasum, Stachys lavandulifolia and Thymus vulgaris on citrus green mould in laboratory level. Plant extract was done using methanolic extracts. The inhibitory effect of extracts at concentration 250, 500, 750 and 1000 ppm on the mycelium growth and conidia germination of fungi was carried out in potato- dextrose- Agar culture medium. This experiment was studied in a completely randomized factorial model. The results showed that the effect of some herbal extracts on the percentage control of citrus greenmould was significantly different at .01 probability level, so that the extracts of Thyme and chive in concentrations of 1000 ppm had inhibitory growth of 100 and 28.06 percent respectively. Also, it was determined that, methanolic extracts of chive and thyme completely inhibited germination of P. digitatum conidia in concentration of 1000 ppm. The results of the study showed that the extracts of thyme and chive in respective concentration of 1000 ppm are good choices for studying the control of Penicillium mould in storage conditions.