Catálogo de Investigaciones | 2013-2014

CI ENCIAS 50 Essential Oils as an Alternative to Synthetic Fungicide, Against Penicillium Digitatum a Post Harvest Fungus, Affecting Citrus Crops in Puerto Rico Penicillium spp. , a post harvest pathogen, infects citrus crops, causing a great economic loss. Essential oils derived from plants have the enormous potential to influence modern agrochemical research. The use of botanical pesticides is now emerging as an effective means to protect crops and their products and the environment from pesticides. Botanicals degrade more rapidly than most chemical pesticides, and therefore are considered to be eco-friendly and less likely to kill beneficial pests than synthetic pesticides with longer environmental retention. We evaluated the antifungal activity of eight commercial plant extracts against the postharvest green mold on citrus fruit caused by Penicillium digitatum , as a biological control and an alternative to synthetic fungicide. YPD-MB assays with basil and peppermint demonstrated the greatest fungicidal activity against P. digitatum growth. stephanie torres y ernesto báez departamento de biología mentor: dra. hna. nancy arroyo gonzález debaryomyces essential oils penicillium digitatum fungus