• Dr. Riddhi Mohanlal Patel

In farming practices; predominately used synthetic chemical fungicides owing to their non-degradable nature and non-target effects; enforce serious environmental and health issues. Also, a matter of concern is to deal with post harvested fruits and vegetables decay; as they are susceptible to fungal and bacterial spoilage and results in to the yield loss. This issue can be addressed only through non-harmful methods as fruits and vegetables are used for direct consumption. To overcome above issues; numerous in vitro and in vivo research work have been carried out on eco-friendly and target specific post-harvest treatment implementing plant extracts and essential oils to control fungal spoilage and thereby extending the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables. Many medicinal plants, spices, herbs etc. have diverse and unique combination of phyto-chemicals and exhibit antimicrobial activity. These plant-based antifungal components have a target specific effect and are bio-degradable in nature. Thus, herbal extracts and essential oils are eco-friendly in nature, resolves resistance issue from chemical fungicides due to cumulative effect of unique secondary metabolites and serve a best alternative to these hazardous synthetic chemicals. At a cellular level; antifungal principles can disrupt the membrane of pathogen, causing cell leakage, cytoplasmic evacuation and loss of proton motive force and thereby results in the fungal growth inhibition. In the present study eleven plant fungal pathogens were selected for the antifungal assay. Primary screening in the present study has revealed that Cymbopogon citratus essential oil possess potential antifungal activity against vast range of fungal pathogens and inhibited ten fungi out of eleven. The data produced, about the effective antifungal property of oil can be further used to upsurge the shelf-life of produce and to prevent yield loss during harvesting and transportation. The results of the present study may also form the basis for further examination to isolate the active principles, elucidate the structures, evaluate them against wider range of drug-resistance fungal strains and development of value-added herbal fungicide formulation.

Fungal spoilage, essential oils, chemical resistance, antifungal principles, antifungal assay

"Antifungal Potency of Cymbopogon Citratus (Dc Ex Nees) Stapf Essential Oil Against Plant Fungal Pathogens ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 1, page no.a31-a36, January-2025, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2501006.pdf

"Antifungal Potency of Cymbopogon Citratus (Dc Ex Nees) Stapf Essential Oil Against Plant Fungal Pathogens ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 1, page no. ppa31-a36, January-2025, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2501006.pdf