Effect of Rosemary and Artemisia Essential Oil on Decay Control and Quality Characters of Mango Fruit During Storage

Postharvest diseases are one of the major causes of storage losses of mango. The incidence of postharvest diseases can affect the quality and limits the shelf life of the horticultural fresh products. Generally, there is a great interest in using essential oils (EOs) as biological control to increasing shelf life of fruits. Mango is one of the most important tropical fruits. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo effectiveness of Artemisia persica and Rosmarinus officinalis essential oils against Aspergillus niger, which are one of the most important postharvest diseases of mango.
Material and Inoculation of artificial fungal was done at room temperature. One day after inoculation, fruits were treated with different concentrations of EOs. The fruits were placed into boxes and kept in 25°C for three weeks. Then decay, weight loss, firmness, ascorbic acid and values of surface color were determined during storage. Fruits surface color was measured using a chromameter (CR 400, Minolta) which provided (CIE L*, a*, and b*). Firmness values were measured by using a texture analyzer.
Results showed that all treatments had significant effects in preventing fruits decay during storage. Rosemary essential oil at low concentration (500 μl/l) (13.3%) significantly reduced deterioration of mango fruits, followed by Artemisa persica (1000 μl/l) (12%). Quality of fruits was also affected by essential oil. Fruit treated by Rosmarinus officinalis showed the highest firmness (3.7 kg/cm2) rather than other treatments. Different treatments showed more firmness rather than control and different concentrations of treatment did not show any significant difference.
Modifications induced by EOs might be due to theirs components interactions with cell wall synthesis, which affects fungal growth and morphology. Moreover, the presence of an aromatic nucleus and one hydroxyl group is important for their antimicrobial activity. Some reported that efficacy of plant EOs depends on their composition