For evaluation of the effect of essential oils on postharvest decay
and some quality factors of strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa Duch.),
the fruit were obtained from a local greenhouse and immediately
transported to the laboratory. For each treatment, eight uniform
strawberries in shape, size and color were selected and treated
with 96% ethanol, rinsed with tap water, and after draining at
room temperature, were transferred to 1 L polystyrene containers
with a cap. Each fruit was artificially wounded with a sterile
puncher to make one uniform 2 mm deep by 4 mm wide wound
on its equatorial region. Conidia of Botrytis spp. were recovered
from the 2-week-old cultures by adding 10 mL of normal saline
and 0.02% Tween 80 to each plate. The mycelial suspension was
filtered through a piece of sterile cheese cloth. The concentration
of the conidial suspension was adjusted to 104 spores/mL. Each
wound was then inoculated with 20 L of the conidial suspension.
A piece of filter paper (4 mm) was located in the center of
containers and treated with the required concentrations of each
of the essential oils (50, 100 and 200 L/L), and also a moistened
filter paper (RH∼95%) was located in the containers in
order to maintain a high relative humidity during this period.
Treated fruit were stored at 15 ◦C. The percentage of infected fruit
was recovered after 7 days of incubation. Each treatment was
replicated three times with 8 fruit per replicate (Corato et al.,
2010).