Controlling of Green Mold Rot caused by Penicillium digitatum using essential oil recovered from biological losses during Pre-Harvest production of citrus fruits cv. Sai-Numphaung

Abstract

In this study, we assessed the quality of essential oil recovered from fruit drop biomass and to assess its usefulness in preventing postharvest diseases in the tangerine 'SaiNamphaung'. Greening was the primary cause of the fruit drop, based on the enduring symptoms and occurrence of the disease in the area. Limonene, together with the presences of β-pinene and linalool, was discovered to be prevalent in essential oils of tangerine fruit peel, particularly that of 'Sai-Namphaung’. Isolation of citrus postharvest fungi were able to identify four genus which latter were DNA sequenced using Internal Transcribed Spacer: ITS and subjected to Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) with highly posibilty (>98% similarlty) as being Penicillium digitatum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium sarcochrum and Geotrichum candidum. Essential oil from ‘Sai-Namphaung’ and ‘Fremont’ peel biomass positively inhibited green mold rot and citrus anthracnose caused by P. digitatum, C. gloeosporiodes, but were less effective than the commercial citrus oil and Zanthoxylum myriacanthum oil. This is the first evidence of ‘Sai-Namphaung’ postharvest diseases cause by this two fungi and their controls using citrus essential oil.