Inhibition of phytopathogenic fungi by essential oil, hydrosol, ground material and extract of summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) growing wild in Turkey

The antifungal activities of the essential oil, hydrosol, ground material and extract of summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) on mycelial growth of Alternaria mali Roberts and Botrytis cinerea Pers. were determined. All doses of extract inhibited 100% the mycelial growth of both fungi, and exhibited a fungicidal effect. The 15% level of hydrosol and the 1.0% level of ground material had a 100% effect on B. cinerea. The other doses showed weak inhibition on mycelial growth of the fungi, and antifungal activity of the essential oil varied depending on concentrations. While the levels of essential oil show fungistatic effect, the increasing doses of hydrosol and ground material showed a fungicidal effect against B. cinerea and A. mali. While the ground material had not showed any fungicidal activity against mycelial growth of A. mali, the 1% and 1.5% levels of the ground material exhibited a fungicidal effect on B. cinerea. The results obtained from this study may contribute to the development of environmentally safer alternatives to protect the spoilage of food products from pathogenic and saprophytic fungi. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.