Therapeutic and Protective Effect of Polyvinyl Alcohol Formulated with Clove Essential Oil as Ecofriendly Treatments to Control Gray Mold Disease of Apple Fruits During Storage

Abstract

To manage the gray mold disease on apple fruits, the impact of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) combined with clove essential oil (CEo) was evaluated. With CEo at 1.0%, linear growth and spore germination of B. cinerea were completely suppressed. Formulation of CEo at 2.0% combined with a 10.0% PVA resulted in complete suppression of both linear growth and spore germination of tested fungus. All formulations were treated at zero time and 24 hours following inoculation, the incidence and severity of gray mold disease were dramatically reduced. When applied at zero time after inoculation, CEo at 2.0% combined with PVA at 10.0% resulted in a height reduction that lowered gray mold incidence and severity by 75.0 and 73.0%, respectively. When applied 48 hours after inoculation, none of the formulations had any effect on the gray mold disease. At various coating times prior to inoculation, namely 1.0, 12.0, and 
24.0 hours, the protective effects of clove essential oil and PVA on apple fruit gray mold disease were investigated. The results showed that, over the course of the testing periods, every formulation considerably lowered the incidence and severity of gray mold disease. In all times, the height reduction was achieved by combining 2.0% CEo with 10.0% PVA, which decreased the incidence and severity
of gray mold. However, statistical analysis showed that there were no appreciable variations in the protective effect of 1.0,12.0, and 24 hours against apple fruit gray mold disease. The incidence and severity of gray mold disease were significantly reduced over the 60-day storage period by all formulations, including CEo at 1.0 and 2.0% combined with PVA at 10.0%, when administered as protective treatments. The quality of the fruit was unaffected by any of the earlier formulations.