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Postharvest diseases cause considerable losses to harvested fruits and vegetables during transportation and storage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal potential of Thymus danensis and Thymus carmanicus against four postharvest pathogenic fungi (Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillium digitatum, Aspergillus niger and Botrytis cinerea) which can reduce the shelf life of strawberry fruit. The chemical composition of plant oils was determined by capillary gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Antifungal assays were carried out in vitro using PDA plates. Antifungal potential was found for 2 analysed essential oils. T. carmanicus oils have chemical compositions characterized by carvacrol (70%), p-cymene (12.4%) and γ-terpinene (2.5%) as the major components while the major constituents of the T. danensis were thymol (64.8%), α-terpinene (11.3%) and p-cymene (7.9%). Thymus sp. oils showed inhibitory effect even at low concentration (300 µl/L) against B. cinerea and R. stolonifer and showed inhibitory effect against A. niger and P. digitatum at 600 µl/L. Both essential oils tested in vivo at the preliminary concentration exhibited inhibitory activity against the four pathogens.

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In this study, succinic acid (0, 1 and 2 mM), malic acid (0, 1 and 2 mM), ethanol (0, 2 and 4% v/v), and their mixtures were applied as preservative solutions for cut flowers of spread carnation cv. ‘White Natila’ and their effect on the longevity, the amount of absorbed solution, malondialdehyde and chlorophyll content, cell membrane stability, fresh, and dry weight and on a visual quality was determined. A similarity in the effect of malic acid and succinic acid on dry weight and fresh weight loss were found. Ethanol positively affected most of the studied traits, including the vase life and fresh weight loss. The preservative solution containing 1 mM of malic acid and 4% ethanol resulted in the longest average vase life - 11.1 days compared to 8.9 days in the control. Malic acid showed a significant positive synergism with ethanol that makes it reasonable to combine them in preservative solutions intended to extend the vase life of cut spray carnation.

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