EFFICACY OF DESERT MEDICINAL PLANTS AGAINST POSTHARVEST LOSSES CAUSED BY BOTRYTIS CINERIA (PERS.) IN STRAWBERRY

Abstract

Botrytis cineria \xa0is a momentous pathogen of different economically important crops, causing severe diseases on more than five hundred species of plants, mainly affects fresh vegetables and fruits with economic losses of 10 to 100 billion dollars throughout the world. Grey mould, caused by B. cineria is considered as a major post-harvest disease of a wide range of fruits especially strawberry. Medicinal desert plants like Citrullus colocynthis , Capparis decidua , and Calotropis procera are used as antifungal agents against post-harvest diseases of fruits caused by B. cineria. Different products are obtained from these desert plants and are being used for medicinal purposes and also proven good to control different diseases in fruit plants. They contain antifungal properties that cease fungal growth through different ways. These plant extracts are used because they do not contain any side effects and control the fungal growth. These medicinal plant extracts are also cheap in their cost and farmers can obtain them easily from the market and their disease controlling percentage is also the highest. C. colocynthis inhibits 77.9% growth rate at 200 ppm concentration. In the present research it is concentrated to control postharvest disease of strawberry fruit as during management, different plants extracts were used for fruits coating. Completely randomized design was used in lab and greenhouse experiments. For comparing the differences between the means least significant difference test was used at 5% variation. The ultimate aim of the present research is to replace synthetic fungicides by using natural products to increase shelf life of fruits, their economic value by reducing residual effects of fungicides