Antifungal Activity of Eleven Plant Essential Oils against Six Plant Pathogenic Fungi

Increasing concern over environmental and food safety caused by organic synthetic pesticides has highlighted the need for alternative products. Pesticidal activity screening from plants could lead to the discovery of new pest control agents. Antifungal activities of eleven plant essential oils were screened against six plant pathogenic fungi by mycelia growth methods. Results indicated that all tested essential oils possessed obvious antifungal activities against the six fungi at a concentration of 2 g/L, especially the antifungal activities of citronella, cinnamon, geranium, lavender, tea tree, and mint oils, which exhibited 100% inhibition against all tested plant pathogenic fungi. The EC₅₀ values of cinnamon oil against Botrytis cinerea and Fusarium graminearum were 29.05 μg/mL and 42.96 μg/mL, respectively, and of geranium oil were 34.02 g/mL and 68.48 μg/mL, respectively.