The efficacy of seven plant extracts (neem, fennel, lavender, thyme, pennyroyal, salvia and asafetida) in controlling postharvest of apple (caused by Botrytis cinerea) was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, all plant extracts treatments inhibited spore germination. Inhibitory rates of pore germination was 17.41 and 20.83% for neem extract treatment (methanolic and aqueous extracts, respectively) with significant difference compared to control (73.6 and 85.33%) for aqueous and methanol extracts. In the storage conditions, the application of aqueous extract of neem (at concentration of 25%) resulted in 89.11% reduction of disease severity compared with the untreated control. Results of enzymes activity showed the plant extracts can increase the activity of peroxidase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, β-1,3-glucanase and polyphenol oxidase in the presence of pathogens, in apple fruits. However, the results of this research revealed that application of neem extracts was more effective than the application of other plant extracts. According to this study, it could be concluded that plant extracts may be useful to control postharvest disease as a safe alternative option to chemical fungicides.
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