The effect of essential oils of thyme, peppermint, savory and two fungicides on the growth of three plant pathogenic fungi

Some plant essential oils have antifungal properties. This study was conducted to determine the effect of three plant essential oils and two chemical fungicides on the growth of three plant pathogenic fungi in vitro.

The effect of different concentrations of three essential oils of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), peppermint (Mentha piperata L.) and khuzestani savory (Satureja khuzestanica Jamzad), compared to two chemical fungicides; mancozeb and carbendazim were investigated on the growth of three fungi Alternaria solani, Botrytis cinerea and Fusarium solani by dilution in Yeast Extract Sucrose Broth medium method and their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were calculated.

Thyme essential oil had the greatest inhibitory effect on A. solani and F. solani among these essential oils, and savory essential oil had the greatest inhibitory effect on B. cinerea. Among the chemical fungicides, mancozeb had the most inhibitory effect on A. solani and carbendazim had the most inhibitory effect on B. cinerea and F. solani.

Thyme and khuzestani savory essential oils have a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of these three plants pathogenic fungi.