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@article{190596,
        author = {Dr. Riddhi Mohanlal Patel},
        title = {Antifungal Assay using Plant Essential oils for Controlling Phyto-Pathogenic and Post-harvest Rot causing Fungal Strain Aspergillus niger},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {8},
        pages = {6634-6646},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=190596},
        abstract = {Fungi are the greatest acquainted groups of plant pathogens and are accountable for variety of symptoms in plants including leaf spots, necrosis, blight, damping off, wilt and also rots and decay of storage produce. Therefore, fungi are the significant destroyers of foodstuffs, checking their nutritive value and render them unfit for eating by creating harmful mycotoxins during their storage and conveyance. Typically, storage fungi are controlled by synthetic chemicals which often have numerous side effects in the forms of carcinogenicity, teratogenicity and residual toxicity. Accordingly, few other biodegradable and eco-friendly control measures need be discovered to replace unsafe synthetic ones. The current investigation is an important step in developing plant-based fungicides against some chief post-harvest fungal pathogen alike Aspergillus niger.
Indiscriminately used synthetic chemical fungicides owing to their non-degradable nature, involve serious problems to human well-being and similarly to the environment. Regulation of fungal pathogens using chemicals, under field condition is not only carcinogenic and hazardous to health but similarly responsible for the serious environmental pollution owing to their non-degradable nature. Furthermore, their undiscriminating practice has resulted into an induced resistance amongst the microbial pathogens. Thus, has imposed the issue of drug-resistant pathogens against traditionally used synthetic chemical fungicides. To overcome this issue; several in vitro and in vivo research efforts are made on fruits and vegetables like food produce post-harvest storage treatment by means of plant extracts and essential oils to control fungal spoilage and thereby enhancing the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables. Thus, the mission to investigate the effective, bio-safe and bio-degradable substitute fungicide is the major concern in today’s time. Diverse plants genera produce an extensive variety of Plant Secondary Metabolites (PSMs) or Phyto-chemicals. In this context; many plants are not been fully explored apart from routine uses for their bioactive properties of secondary metabolites, essential oils and volatile fractions. Accordingly, PSMs which have self-protective part may be exploited for the management of plant diseases in field conditions as well as during transportation and storage due to their edible nature and therapeutic importance. Plant-based antifungal components have a target specific effect and are bio-degradable in nature. Consequently, botanical extracts and essential oils are eco-friendly in nature and assist a greatest alternative to these dangerous synthetic chemicals. Biochemically antifungal principles can interrupt the membrane, producing cell leakage, cytoplasmic evacuation and damage of proton motive force and thus results in the fungal growth inhibition. 
Considering the priority; in order to investigate potential botanical antifungals; in the present study, essential oils from four Indian plants namely Cymbopogon citrates, Eucalyptus globules, Gaultheria procumbens and Syzygium aromaticum were used to discover their latent antifungal activity against important crop destroying and post-harvest rot causing fungal strain Aspergillus niger.  Primary screening experiments in the present investigation in Primary screening in vitro assay had revealed that tested essential oils possess an excellent antifungal potential. Further the Secondary screening and dose optimization studies were conducted to find the MIC value for each tested essential oils to inhibit the selected fungal strains using Disc Diffusion Assay. Usually, essential oils of the above stated plants are used for the medicinal purposes, nonetheless here an attempt was made to perceive the antifungal potency and to be used it against the commonly found crop and yield destructing fungal strains by further preparing an appropriate value-added Herbal Fungicide formulation. In the present study, efforts made to test the antifungal potency of four essential oils against Postharvest Rot causing fungi Aspergillus niger using Paper disc diffusion assay.},
        keywords = {Mycotoxins, Synthetic Chemical Fungicides, Post-harvest Fungal Pathogens, Plant Secondary Metabolites (PSMs), antifungal potency, Essential oils, Paper disc diffusion assay},
        month = {January},
        }