Combination of Cinnamaldehyde/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex and L-phenylalanine effectively reduces the postharvest green mold in citrus fruit

The essential oil and β -cyclodextrin inclusion complex was able to inhibit the growth of Penicillium digitatum , a damaging pathogen that causes green mold in citrus fruit. In this study, cinnamaldehyde- β -cyclodextrin inclusion complex ( β -CDCA) for controlling citrus green mold was synthesized by the co-precipitation method. Characterization of β -CDCA revealed that the aromatic ring skeleton of cinnamaldehyde (CA) was successfully embedded into the cavity of β -CD to form the inclusion complex. β -CDCA inhibited P. digitatum at a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of 4.0 g/L. FT-IR spectroscopy analysis, calcofluor white staining, extracellular alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity and propidium iodide (PI) staining of hyphae morphology showed that β -CDCA may damage the cell ultrastructure and membrane permeability of P. digitatum . The study further demonstrated that hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), malondialdehyde (MDA), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) markedly accumulated in 1/2 MIC β -CDCA treated hyphae. This implied that β -CDCA inhibited growth of P. digitatum by the triggering oxidative stress, which may have caused cell death by altering cell membrane permeability. In addition, in vivo results showed that β -CDCA alone or combined with L -phenylalanine (L-PHe) displayed a comparable level to that of prochloraz. Therefore, β -CDCA combined with L-PHe can thus be used as an eco-friendly preservative for the control green mold in postharvest citrus fruit.