Plasma membrane damage contributes to antifungal activity of citronellal against .

The antifungal activity of citronellal, a typical terpenoid of plant essential oils, against and the possible action mode involved were investigated. Results showed that the mycelial growth and spores' germination of were inhibited by citronellal in a dose-dependent manner. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were determined to be 1.60 µL/mL and 3.20 µL/mL, respectively. It was found that the plasma membrane of citronellal-treated spores was damaged, as confirmed by the propidium iodide stain results, as well as a higher extracellular conductivity and release of cell constituents in citronellal-treated samples than those of control samples. Moreover, in vivo test results demonstrated that wax + citronellal (WC; 10 × MFC) treatment effectively reduced the incidence of green mold after 5 days of storage at 25 ± 2 °C. These findings suggested that the plasma damage mechanism contributed to the antifungal activity of citronellal against . In addition, citronellal was suggested to be a potential alternative to fungicidal agents in controlling green mold of citrus fruit.