Antifungal Activity of Skin Coatings against Post Harvest Rots of Apple Cultivar Starking Delicious

Essential oils and vegetable oils as skin coatings have the potential to replace the synthetic fungicides in the management of post harvest diseases of fruits and vegetables. This study was aimed to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of essential oils of eucalyptus, neem, clove, lemongrass, cinnamon and thyme; vegetable oils of linseed, castor, karanj, mustard and soyabean; anhydrous milk fat; paraffin wax and semperfresh against some important post harvest pathogens of apple fruits (Alternaria alternata, Trichothecium roseum, Monilinia fructigena, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium expansum). Neem oil (1%) provided complete control of all the fungal decays under study. The next best treatments were eucalyptus oil, cinnamon oil and clove oil. Therefore, skin coatings of essential oils and vegetable oils after suitable formulation can be used for the control of post harvest diseases of fruits and vegetables instead of fungicidal treatments.