In: Sydowia 76, (2024): 137-147; ISSN 0082-0598, DOI 10.12905/0380.sydowia76-2024-0137 Published online on July 16, 2024

Tripartite combinational effects of Alhagi maurorum plant extract, essential oil, and carbendazim against Alternaria and Penicillium spp. in post-harvest of Citrus fruits

Zeynab Fotoohiyan, Fatemeh Shahdadi, Riyaz Z. Sayyed, Ali Salehi Sardoei, Bahman Fazeli-Nasab

1 Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Jiroft Branch, Islamic Azad University, Jiroft, Iran
2 Food Science and Technology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jiroft, Jiroft, Iran
3 Department of Microbiology, PSGVP Mandal’s Shri S I Patil Arts, G B Patel Science, & STKV Sangh Commerce College, Shahada-425 409, India
4 Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, INTI International University, Persiaran Perdana BBN, Putra Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
5 Crop and Horticultural Science Research Department, South Kerman Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Jiroft, Iran
6 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Agriculture Institute, Research Institute of Zabol, Zabol, Iran
* e-mails: fatemeh.shahdadi@gmail.com, sayyedrz@gmail.com

Fotoohiyan Z., Shahdadi F., Sayyed R.Z., Sardoei A.S. & Fazeli-Nasab B. (2024) Tripartite combinational effects of Alhagi maurorum plant extract, essential oil, and carbendazim against Alternaria and Penicillium spp. in post-harvest of Citrus fruits. – Sydowia 76: 137–147.

Citrus fruits are among the commercial fruits most consumed and most affected by fungal rot during storage. Chemical management of fungal diseases poses numerous health and environmental concerns. Biological control using plant extracts has been considered a safe, eco-friendly, and sustainable management practice. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of Alhagi maurorum extract and pesticide (carbendazim) on fungal pathogens. Fungal pathogens were isolated from infected fruits and identified based on morphological characteristics. These isolates were tested for their pathogenicity in citrus fruits. The antifungal activity of these preparations was performed using diffusion assay. Morphological characters identified these isolates as Penicillium digitatum, Penicillium italicum, and Alternaria sp. These isolates produced characteristic infections in citrus fruits.
All the preparations, A. maurorum extract, carbendazim, and a combination of these two exhibited antifungal activity against P. digitatum, Penicillium italicum, and Alternaria sp. However, the combination of A. maurorum essence and carbendazim produced pronounced effects (50 % more) against fungal pathogens. The results showed that the combined effect of Alhagi maurorum essence and extract with carbendazim effectively controls fungal pathogens infection of orange and tangerine during storage.

Keywords: camelthorn, citrus rot, lemon, orange, pesticide, tangerine.