Effects of Marjoram, wild mint and Summer savory essential oils on mycellial growth of Botrytis cinerea

The use of antifungal compounds such as essential oils for the preservation of natural fruits during the storage period has dramatically been rising. In this study, the individual essential oils of Marjoram (Origamum marjorana), wild mint (Mentha longifolia) and Summer savory (Satureja khuzistanica) were employed for the control of corruption of fruits during the storage period. In this study, the antifungal activity of essential oils was investigated on growth a specie of plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea on PDA medium and fruit tissues. Antifungal activities on PDA medium were measured by disk diffusion and volatile essential oil methods. To evaluate the effects of the essential oils on fungal growth in fruit tissue, the Kiwi were inoculated with 30 µl of spore suspension (106 spore/ml), and then fruits were sprayed with 4 and 20 µl/ml of the essential oils. Seven days after inoculation, fruits were evaluated in terms of pollution. To calculate the percentage of infected fruit was divided into eight parts and the number of infected fruit fungus pathogen contamination in 12.5% multiplication and percentages were calculated. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design with three replications. Essential oils have showed significant inhibitory effect on fungus growth. The results showed that most inhibition of growth in a paper disk method was in order for fungus B. cinerea related to the essential oil of Summer savory 56.54 percent respectively and volatile essential oil methods was related to the essential oil of Summer savory was 55.97 percent respectively. The results inoculated of the fruit tissue with a spore suspension B. cinerea showed that respectively treatment (20µl/ml) of Marjoram (with 35.42% of disease) had the inhibitoriest effect against the pathogen.