Phyto-pathogenic fungus Rhyzoctonia sp. is able to produce important damages in the cultivated plants, being quite difficult to control it using chemical fungicides. At this moment there is searching for alternatives to the chemical control that pollutes, producing severe ecological problems. The essential oils with antifungal action can be a feasible alternative for the control of this fungus that has proved to be sensitive to some compounds. In this research was analysed the inhibitory capacity of the mint (Mentha piperita) oil, clove (Syzygium aromaticum) oil and sage (Salvia officinalis) oil by evaluating their antifungal activity on Rhizoctonia sp. isolated from blueberry roots. For the same purpose it was used the hydrolate of Agrimonia eupatoria obtained in Crop Science laboratory from `s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara. The essential oils of mint, clove and sage and were tested in different doses of 0.5 µl, 1 µl and 2 µl in three replicates there being obtained 12 variants and the non-treated control. The greatest inhibition rates of the mycelium development were noticed in the variants treated with clove oil. Thus, in the variant treated with cu 0.5 µl the inhibition rate was 96.77 % and in the other variants (1 and 2µl) the fungus inhibition was total (100%). The antifungal action of the mint oil was proved to be very good, the inhibition rate being 100 % at 2 µl, 93.54 % at 1µl and 78.51 % at 0.5 µl. The inhibition capacity of the sage oil and of the hydrolate of Agrimonia eupatoria was quite similar, the inhibition rate being comprised between 60.22 % and 69.90 % in the case of the media treated with the hydrolate of Agrimonia eupatoria and 48.38 % - 75.29 % in the case of the media treated with sage oil. The results obtained in this research testify the very good fungistatic potential od the mint and clove oils, although in accordance with similar researches from literature. The hydrolate of Agrimonia eupatoria is less tested from the point of view of the antifungal and antibacterial activity on the plants pathogen, this species being known due to the benefits on the human health.

Rhizoctonia sp., essential oils, hydrolate, Agrimonia eupatoria, Salvia officinalis, Syzygium aromaticum, Mentha piperita.

biology

Presentation: oral