Biological Control of Botrytis Fruit Rot (Gray Mold) on Strawberry and Red Pepper Fruits by Olive Oil Mill Wastewater

ABSTRACTThe antifungal activity of olive oil mill wastewater (olive OMW) on Botrytis cinerea Pers was investigated. The effect of sterilized, filtered and non sterilized olive OMW was tested in vitro: a) on mycelium growth of B. cinerea on PDA agar plates and b) on strawberry and pepper fruits infected with the pathogen. The results show that the filter sterilized olive OMW inhibits the growth of B. cinerea mycelium in vitro probably due to the activity of the phenolic compounds contained on olive OMW. Furthermore, olive OMW significantly decreased fungus mold formation on the tested fruits.