ABSTRACT Schinus terebinthifolia , a plant which is widely distributed throughout South America, is commonly known as pink pepper or Brazilian peppertree. Its essential oil has demonstrated antioxidant, wound‐healing, antibacterial and antifungal properties. To enhance its antifungal potential, nanoemulsions of S. terebinthifolia essential oil were prepared to assess their antifungal effect on Colletotrichum plurivorum , the causal agent of anthracnose in papaya. To achieve this, in vitro assays were evaluated to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the nanoemulsion using 96‐well microplates and petri dishes. Subsequently, the most effective concentrations were tested in vivo on papaya fruits under both preventive and curative conditions. The in vitro results indicated that the S. terebinthifolia essential oil nanoemulsion inhibited the growth of C. plurivorum . In vivo evaluations on papaya fruits inoculated with C. plurivorum revealed that the nanoemulsion reduced both lesion size and disease incidence, demonstrating preventive and curative effects. The use of S. terebinthifolia essential oil nanoemulsions proved to be an innovative and effective post‐harvest strategy for the control of papaya anthracnose at concentrations of 0.13% and 0.26%, showing promising results for the management of C. plurivorum infections.
Barraqui et al. (Sun,) studied this question.