Objectives: The study was aimed to evaluate the effect of essential oils against fungal pathogens including the chemical analysis (GC-MS) of the most effective essential oil. Methods: The antifungal effect of essential oils was assessed after morpho-molecular identification of Alternaria alternata . Mycelial growth inhibition (%) in in vitro treatment of eight essential oils at different concentrations was observed against A. alternata . Fungitoxicity assay was done following chemical composition analysis by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Direct application of thyme oil was performed on healthy fruits against A. alternata . Results: All eight essential oils showed mycelial growth inhibition at different levels, whereas thyme oil was found more efficacious against A. alternata . Chemical composition analysis detected 32 components and thymol was found in a higher percentage. Direct application of the most significant concentration of thyme oil was found effective against A. alternata with a varying decrease in decaying percentage. Conclusions: Investigation of this study proved thyme oil as a potential and eco-friendly botanical fungicide effectively used against A. alternata on loquat fruit. The current study explored that thyme oil could be potentially used against A. alternata and its compounds could be further investigated for the development of eco-friendly approaches for the control of postharvest fruit rots.

Grapes (Vitis Vinifera L.), are one of the most valuable fruit in Pakistan, mostly cultivated for edible purpose. In October 2016, unusual fruit rot symptoms were observed 3-5 days after harvest on grapes in fruit packing houses from Attock district (33°46'07.9"N 72°21'43.0"E) of Punjab province. To find out the incidence of symptoms, a total 10 boxes of grapes from 5 different locations of Attock district was selected arbitrarily. Out of 120 inspected bunches 28 bunches displayed typical symptoms of disease. During observation, white to dark brown discoloration, soft and fluffy in texture, was observed on individual berries and rapidly expanded to the whole bunch. A total of 400 symptomatic berries were surface sterilized with 1% sodium hypochlorite and rinsed three times with sterile distilled water and let them to dry on filter paper for 45 second. Excised segments (4 mm3) of sterilized tissues (One segment from each berry) were transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25 ± 2°C. After...