Antifungal activity of medicinal plants extracts against Botrytis cinerea the causal agent of gray mold on tomato

Four aromatic and medicinal plants of the Souss-Massa region were tested for their efficiency in reducing postharvest gray mold of tomato fruits caused by Botrytis cinerea in vitro and in vivo experiment. This antifungal activity was tested using two types of extracts: organic plant extract and aqueous extracts. When they are used at 1000 ppm, the four organic plant extracts of Asteriscus imbricatus inhibit completely the growth of B. cinerea. However complete inhibition of the mycelia growth of the pathogen was observed at 2000ppm concentration by ether and chloroform extracts of Pulicaria mauritanica. Moreover, the organic extracts of Lavandula dentata showed a moderate antifungal effect; while the four organic extracts of Globularia alpym have no effect on the studied fungus. The aqueous extract of Asteriscus imbricatus has inhibited completely the growth of B. cinerea at 20000 ppm. The aqueous extract of P. mauritanica showed a moderate antifungal effect, while the aqueous extracts L. dentata and the aqueous extracts of G. alpym were ineffective against B. cinerea. The in vivo test shows that disease incidence decrease as the concentration of A. imbricatus and P. mauritanica extracts increase. This study has demonstrated that organics and aqueous extracts of these two plants are promising antifungal agents which could be used as bio-fungicide in tomato crops protection against B. cinerea. Keywords: Antifungal activity, extracts, Medicinal plants, Botrytis cinerea, postharvest