Antifungal activity of four Piper genus essential oils against postharvest fungal Fusarium spp. isolated from Mangifera indica L. and Persea americana Mill. fruits

Fusarium solani are high-risk pathogen, that affects the quality of fruits, such as papaya, strawberry, mango, and avocado, among others. Mangifera indica L. (mango) and Persea americana Mill. (avocado) are susceptible to phytopathogen infection during the postharvest period resulting in severe economic losses. Essential oils have been studied with the intention of incorporating them into integrated pest management, to avoid or reduce the use of synthetic fungicides. The objective of this work was to determine the volatile chemical composition of four essential oils from plants of the Piperaceae family ( Piper hispidum Sw ., Piper lanceaefolium Kunth, Piper marginatum Jacq., and Piper peltatum L.), and to evaluate the antifungal activity and its relationship with the volatile composition of each one of them. The compounds found in Piper hispidum were limonene (17.2 %), p -cymene (10.9 %), δ-3-carene (9.6 %), γ-elemene (7.3 %), and spathulenol (6.1 %); Piper marginatum : α-pinene (17.6 %), β-pinene (12.9 %), β-caryophyllene (7.9 %), linalool (4.8 %); and Piper peltatum : caryophyllene oxide (50.6 %), calamenene (10.9 %), α-pinene (9.1 %), α-cubene (7.1 %), β-caryophyllene (7.1 %); Piper lanceaefolium : viridiforol (8.9 %), α-pinene (6.3 %), gurjunene (5.7 %), terpinolene (5.7 %). Fusarium solani was isolated from infected fruits (mango and avocado), and classified by molecular identification. The essential oil of P. lanceaefolium showed the highest antifungal activity (69.6 % ± 0.40 at 300 ppm). Limonene, and α-pinene are the compounds that generated the best percentages of percent inhibition mycelium (PIM) 78 % and 74 %, respectively. In conclusion, essential oils are an alternative in the search for natural, safe, and effective antifungal products.