Antifungal activity of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) against some postharvest fungi

Propolis is a valuable bee-product collected by worker bees from plants and mixing with their enzymes, a sticky, waxy and aromatic material is produced. Various biological properties e.g. antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity had been proven for this substance. In this study, the inhibitory activity of propolis ethanolic extract in vitro against four pathogenic fungi including Aspergillus flavus (causal agent of pistachio yellow rot), Botrytis cinerea, A. tubingensis and Cladosporium cladosporioides (causal agents of grape rot) was studied. First the ethanolic extract of propolis was provided and then was added to PDA medium in 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000 µg/ml. Mycelial disks of fresh fungi cultures were incubated in the center of treated medium and the growth rate of fungi was measured and the inhibition percent was determined. Results showed that there is significantly different (P≤0.01) among fungal species, concentrations and interaction between fungal species and concentration. The sensitivity of fungal species was different in contract to specified concentration of the extract, generally the highest inhibition was observed at the highest used concentration. A. tubengensis and C. cladosporioides showed the highest growth inhibition with 80.88% and 79.11% respectively. The results of this study showed propolis possesses high antifungal potential and it can use for biological control of plants fungal diseases after further researches.