title: Antimicrobial activity and potential use of monoterpenes as tropical fruits preservatives.
abstract: Banana, papaya and pineapple are the most consumed tropical fruits in the world, being Brazil one of the main producers. Fungi Colletotrichum musae, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Fusarium subglutinans f.sp. ananas cause severe post harvest diseases and losses in fruits quality. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of five monoterpenes to inhibit the mycelial growth and conidia germination of these three phytopathogens. The monoterpenes citral, citronellal, L-carvone, isopullegol and α-pinene were diluted in ethanol to final concentrations from 0.2 to 1%. All monoterpenes were found to inhibit the growth of the three studies fungi in a dose-dependent manner. Citral was the most effective of the oils tested and showed potent fungicidal activity at concentrations above 0.5%. Also, in vivo evaluation with these tropical fruits demonstrated the efficiency of citral to inhibit fungal growth. These results indicate the potential use of citral as a natural pesticide control of post-harvest fruit diseases.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo , Vitória, ES , Brasil ; Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar , Havana , Cuba.
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Eliomara S S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: Mirella P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Glória M F Viégas
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Aquije
authors.forename: A Alberto R
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Reginaldo B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.forename: Jose A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Patricia M B
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Fernandes
keywords: banana; biocontrol; diseases; essential oils; papaya; pineapple; plant
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