The products from medicinal plants have been studied as an alternative in the control of plant diseases in order to mitigate and / or reduce pesticide abuse mainly in postharvest. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate, in vitro and in vivo, the control of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, the causative agent of papaya anthracnose, in postharvest using essential oils (EOs) of Cymbopogon citratus, Eucalyptus citriodora, Mentha arvensis and Artemisia dracunculus. For mycelial growth inhibition in vitro, the EOs were incorporated into PDA (potato dextrose agar) and there was total or partial inhibition of mycelial growth and sporulation of plant pathogen, depending on the essential oil used. For the in vitro test, EOs of C. citratus (1%) and E. citriodora (1%) were employed. The plant pathogen inoculation was concomitant at 24 hours after the alternative treatments, which were: essential oils of C. citratus and E. citriodora (1%) and citrus biomass (150 mL 100 L-1) (Ecolife®). The evaluated parameters were disease severity, mass reduction, diameter, fruit final length, pH and total soluble solid concentration (ºBrix). In the disease control, treated fruits immediately inoculated with the plant pathogen showed higher AUDPC (area under disease progress curve). However, treated fruits inoculated 24h after the treatments had greater control of the disease, confirming the potential of the essential oils tested in the present work.
essential oils; anthracnose; papaya; alternative control; medicinal plants
