title: Antifungal efficacy of plant essential oils against stored grain fungi ofFusariumspp.
abstract: The control potential of seven plant essential oils was evaluated againstFusarium proliferatum(Matsushima) Nirenberg andFusarium verticillioidesSheldon. The fungicidal activity was assessed through microtiter plate assay to determine the minimum inhibitory and fungicidal concentration of essential oils. The essential oil ofMentha arvensiswas adjudged as best for inhibiting the fungal growth, while oil ofThymus vulgarisandAnethum graveolensshowed high efficacy in terms of fungicidal activity. The oil ofM. arvensisandT. vulgarisalso showed good inhibition activity in agar disc diffusion assay.M. arvensisessential oil was analysed for its composition using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry revealing menthol (63.18 %), menthone (15.08 %), isomenthyl acetate (5.50 %) and limonene (4.31 %) as major components. Significant activity ofM. arvensisessential oil againstF. proliferatumandF. verticillioidesisolates obtained, pave the way for its use as antifungal control agents.
authors.affiliation: Division of Seed Science and Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Pusa, New Delhi, 110012 India.
authors.forename: Peeyush
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology Laboratory, Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 110016 India.
authors.forename: Sapna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Division of Seed Science and Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Pusa, New Delhi, 110012 India.
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (DWR), Karnal, Haryana 132001 India.
authors.forename: Amit Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sharma
keywords: Antifungal activity; Essential oils; Fusarium proliferatum; Fusarium verticillioides