Open Access

ARTICLE

The Potential Efficacy of Glycyrrhizic Acid and Its Nanostructure Against Brown Rot of Peach fruits

Tahsin Shoala¹, Basma H. Amin², Ismail A. S. Rashid³, Fayz A. Abdel-Rahman³, Mohamed E. Khalil³, Khamis Youssef^3,*

1 Environmental Biotechnology Department, College of Biotechnology, Misr University for Science and Technology, 6th of October City, Egypt
2 The Regional Center for Mycology and Biotechnology (RCMB), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11435, Egypt
3 Plant Pathology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, 12619, Egypt

* Corresponding Author: Khamis Youssef. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Modern Strategies for Controlling Plant Diseases)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(4), 1139-1152. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2023.026515

Received 09 September 2022; Accepted 20 October 2022; Issue published 06 January 2023

Abstract

Production of peaches (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) for both local market and export is increasing each year in Egypt. Brown rot disease, caused by Monilinia laxa and Monilinia fructigena, is considered one of the most important postharvest rots affecting peaches in Egypt and economic losses are increasing. Antifungal activity of glycyrrhizic acid nanoparticles (GA-NPs) and glycyrrhizic acid (GA) at 0.2 and 0.4 mmol/L was investigated as a control for both these brown rot pathogens on peach fruits in both in vitro and in vivo studies. In the in vitro studies, GA-NPs were the most effective as shown by the ability to decrease linear growth of both brown rot pathogens in potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with 0.4 mmol/L GA-NPs. Micrographs of M. fructigena exposed to 0.4 mmol/LGA showed mycelial deformations, nodule formation, detachment of the cell wall, shrinkage and inhomogeneous cytoplasmic materials with large vacuoles. Mycelium of M. laxa exposed to 0.4 mmol/ LGA-NPs resulted in thinner and distorted hyphae, nodule formation, cell wall thinning, and swellings. The GANPs and GA treatments improved fruit quality by maintaining firmness and total soluble solids (TSS). GA-NPs were more effective in decreasing decay incidence than their bulk material. The 0.4 mmol/L GA-NPs completely inhibited the disease on naturally infected peach fruits for both seasons of 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, 0.4 mmol/L GA-NPs reduced the disease incidence in inoculated fruits by 95 (M. laxa) and 88% (M. fructigena) in 2018 season and 96 (M. laxa) and 85% (M. fructigena) in 2019 season. In conclusion, GA-NPs could enhance the resistance of peaches against brown rot caused by M. laxa and M. fructigena.

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