Antifungal activity of moroccan plants against Penicillium italicum, the causalagent of blue mold of citrus

Abstract: Blue mold, caused by Penicillium italicum, is one the most economicallyimportant postharvest disease of citrus fruits. The control of this mold is largely dependenton application of synthetic fungicides, which has adverse effects on the environment andpromotes the development of strains resistant to the active components used. To overcomethis problem taking into consideration the increased concern of consumers towards pesticideuse and the increasing demand in the quality of products, alternative methods are needed.Biological control using naturally-occurring substances is a promising alternative that hasbeen recently explored for managing postharvest decay of fruits. The screening of antifungalactivity of aqueous plants extracts against P. italicum was evaluated using the agar platesmethod. Our results show that from a total of 45 aromatic and medicinal plants assessed, 23reduced the incidence of disease to less than 50%. From which two species, belongingrespectively to the family of Lamiaceae and Asteraceae, completely inhibited the mycelialgrowth of P. italicum.