Essential oils in the control of Aspergillus SP. inoculated in okra, Zucchini, arugula, broccoli and cauliflower seeds

• Grant number: 19/12688-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Pâmela Gomes Nakada Freitas
• Grantee: Isabela Ribeiro Martins
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Dracena. Dracena , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The demand for food has been growing along with the increase of the world population, which stimulates the use of conventional agricultural pesticides. To reduce the negative effects, organic agriculture is alternative due to the use of natural products. However, organic farming products are still scarce, and in view of the increasing pressure of diseases and pests in modern agriculture, new options are essential. In relation to the fungi that are associated with seeds, the genus Aspergillus is of greater contamination. Therefore, it has the objective of evaluating the effect of the essential oils of thyme, lemon balm and rosemary on seeds of okra, zucchini, arugula, broccoli and cauliflower inoculated with the fungus Aspergillus flavus. There will be five experiments, one of each plant species, okra seeds, zucchini, arugula, broccoli and cauliflower, and the treatments will be in a 3 x 5 factorial scheme, totaling three essential oils: thyme (Thymus vulgaris), grass (Cymbopogon citratus) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and five concentrations: 0; 2.0; 2.5; 3.0; 3.5%. The seeds will be treated in an orbital shaker table (model-MA 376) for five minutes. The experimental design will be completely randomized with four replicates. The characteristics to be evaluated will be: germination, first germination count, aerial part length, primary root and total seedling length, seedling dry mass, germination speed index, germination speed, emergency speed index, emergency speed, and sanity test. In order to evaluate the results, each plant species will be submitted to analysis of variance, and the regression analysis will be applied to 5% of probability for the factor concentration, whereas for the essential oils factor, the Tukey test will be applied to 5% of probability.