A number of alternatives to chemical fungicides have been proposed in the last 20–30 years for the control of post-harvest fungal diseases including the application of antagonistic micro- organisms , natural antimicrobial substances and sanitizing products
Particular interest has been shown in the powerful antimicrobial action of plant extracts which are considered relatively safe thanks to their natural origin, decomposability and low toxicity to the environment (Cabral et al., 2013; Gatto et al., 2011).
In addition, their use fits in well with the concept of sustainable agriculture because it mostly exploits natural cycles with reduced environmental impact.
Antimicrobial properties of plant extracts are generally related to different classes of compounds like phenols that occur in plants as preformed compounds and may act both on the pathogen and on the host by inducing resistance responses