ANTIFUNGAL PROPERTIES OF CORIANDRUM SATIVUM EXTRACTS ON FUSARIUM SPP. IN VITRO

Abstract

Fusarium spp. cause significant plant diseases and are responsible for food contamination with mycotoxins. Sustainable crop protection relies on a combination of different measures; among others, plants contain bioactive compounds providing antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Coriander seed extracts have a composition rich in fatty acids, sterols, essential oils, polyphenols etc. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the antifungal properties of coriander essential oil and coriander extract on F. culmorum and F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici in vitro. The essential oil was obtained by Clevenger apparatus and the extract with the CO₂ extraction method. A potato dextrose agar medium enriched with extracts was inoculated with Fusarium spp. discs, incubated and the radial growth of colonies was measured 3 and 7 days after inoculation. Results revealed that the coriander essential oil had higher antifungal properties on Fusarium spp. than the coriander extract. No radial colony growth of F. culmorum was observed at 1000 µL/L concentration of the essential oil. In contrast, the coriander extract had moderate antifungal properties, which were higher for F. oxysporum than for F. culmorum. Both plant extracts showed potential to be used as antifungal compounds and thus could help to make plant protection more sustainable.