Effect of phenolic compounds present in Argentinian plant extracts on mycelial growth of the plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea Pers.

The polyphagous plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea has theability of growing fast under several conditions, and producing greymoulds in different plant tissues. Because of its adaptive plasticity,resistant strains have made difficult their chemical control. Therefore,new strategies of management and the use of natural compoundscould be important control alternatives. The aim of this work was tostudy the potential value of four Argentine native plant extracts andsome of its phenolic compounds as biodrugs on B. cinerea. Aqueousplant extracts of Larrea divaricata, Prosopis strombulifera, Tessariaabsinthioides and Schinus molle var. areira, were used. The capability toinhibit the mycelial growth was studied using either the crude plantextract or same its most important, detected phenolic compounds.Phenolic compounds were analyzed by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis(CZE) with UV detection, and then statistically analyzed byPrincipal Component Analysis to correlate them and their biologicalactivity against the fungus. Prosopis strombulifera and T. absinthioidesextracts did not inhibit mycelial growth while S. molle stimulated it.Larrea divaricata demonstrated inhibition above 50% at plant extractsconcentrations of 100 mg/mL.