Essential Oil of Cymbopogon citratus on the Control of the Curvularia Leaf Spot Disease on Maize.

The Leaf Spot is becoming more common due to the culture expansion and the low resistance of the cultivated genotypes in tropical regions. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the fungitoxicity of the essential oil of upon the phytopathogen , causative agent of the Leaf Spot. There was realized pathogenicity tests of in maize plants, phytotoxicity of the essential oil of and gas chromatography attached, germination tests of the conidia, and of in vitro inhibition of . Also, there were realized tests aiming at verifying the phytopathogen control in vivo. In the pathogenicity tests, there were verified symptoms of the disease in all of the suspensions tested on plants. It was observed that the essential oil concentrations of 7.5 µL mL to 50 µL mL were phytotoxic. The majoritarian chemical components of the essential oil of were Geranial (41.46%) and Neral (32.43%). The concentrations of 5 and 7.5 µL mL inhibited 100% of conidia germination. None of the concentrations evaluated effectively inhibited mycelial growth in in vitro tests. In the preventive control, the concentration of 7.5 µL mL was sufficient for the reduction of the progress of the disease, however the curative control was not efficient on the tested dosages.