Effectiveness of Essential Oils Mixtures Based on Soy Emulsifier Against Powdery Mildew on Zucchini Plants

Donnarumma L^1*, Sturchio E², Milano F¹, Boccia P², Zanellato M² and Annesi T¹

¹Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria-CREACentro di Ricerca Difesa e Certificazione, via C.G. Bertero 22–00156 Roma, Italia

²INAIL, Dipartimento Innovazioni tecnologiche e sicurezza degli impianti, prodotti e insediamenti antropici (DIT), via Roberto Ferruzzi 38/40-00143 Roma, Italia

*Corresponding Author : L. Donnarumma
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura el’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria-CREA-Centro di Ricerca Difesa e Certificazione, via C.G.Bertero 22–00156 Roma, Italia
Tel: +39-06-82070313
Fax: +39-06-86802296
E-mail: lucia.donnarumma@crea.gov.it

Received: October 18, 2017 Accepted: November 06, 2017 Published: November 12, 2017

Citation: Donnarumma L, Sturchio E, Milano F, Boccia P, Zanellato M, et al. (2017) Effectiveness of Essential Oils Mixtures Based on Soy Emulsifier Against Powdery Mildew on Zucchini Plants. J Plant Physiol Pathol 5:4. doi: 10.4172/2329-955X.1000169

Effectiveness of Essential Oils Mixtures Based on Soy Emulsifier Against Powdery Mildew on Zucchini Plants

Chemical control is the main protection tool against several diseases that affect agricultural crops. The use of essential oils for the control of crop diseases is a potential alternative to the use of synthetic pesticides. The aim of this work was to test some essential oil mixtures, formulated with a soy emulsifier, against powdery mildew on zucchini plants, starting from the results of previous greenhouse trials. Moreover, the potential phytotoxicity of essential oils was also investigated on Vicia faba, a plant usually used as a bioindicator in ecotoxicological tests due to its sensitivity to mutagenic substances. The obtained results in greenhouse confirm the effectiveness of the essential oil mixtures using soy based emulsifier suitable for field treatments. Furthermore, the tests confirmed that essential oil treatments caused a dose-dependent phytotoxic effect on V. faba.