Effectiveness of plant extracts and oils in managing blue mould rot of orange caused by Penicillium italicum

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the plant extracts and oils, in the inhibition of Penicillium italicum causal agent of blue mould on orange fruits. The results showed that all the tested extracts at 5, 10 percent and oils at 4 percent had a high inhibitory effect against Penicillium italicum. Extracts of garlic cloves is highly effective and showed 95.26 percent inhibitory effect against mycelial growth and 52.75 percent reduced disease severity at 10 percent concentration. Edible and non-edible oils were applied at 4 percent concentration in which eucalyptus oil found most effective in control of mycelial growth (94.65%) and disease severity (50.63%) on orange fruits. Results have shown that treatments have caused abnormal radial growth. In plant extracts and oils maximum inhibition was recorded with the use of garlic cloves and eucalyptus oil.