The public discussion of the master’s thesis for the student (Bashir Mohsen Ali) in the Department of Biology - College of Science - University of Anbar took place on Thursday, 9/22/2022 at Jaber Ibn Hayyan Hall in the College of Science for his tagged thesis:

((Isolation and Identification of fungi from refrigerated food stores and study the effect of some plant extracts on it)).

The study aimed to test the effectiveness of aqueous and acetone extracts and plant powders of carnation flowers, bark flowers, ginger rhizomes and pomegranate peels against contaminating and pathogenic fungi of foodstuffs isolated from foodstuffs, including fruits and vegetables, in cold stores of different areas of Anbar Governorate, which were diagnosed microscopically, agriculturally and molecularly. The effectiveness of plant extracts and powders, both individually and overlapping with each other, in inhibiting the radial growth of the studied fungi in comparison with the fungicide Top tapsin 70 and reducing the infection of tomato fruits with fungi before and after pollination. The effective chemical compounds in the plant extracts were also detected qualitatively and quantitatively by GC-MS technology.

The results showed the clear inhibitory activity shown by plant extracts and dry powders in inhibiting the growth of pathogenic fungi and reducing the infection of tomato fruits with fungi before and after pollination compared to the fungicide used, as the clove plant outperformed the rest of the plants in its antifungal activity. The results also showed the presence of many effective chemical compounds with Anti-fungal activity such as alkaloids, tannins, soaps, fuocoumarins and others, and chemicals such as anti-fungal oils, such as Eugenol, Thymoquinone and others.

This study promotes the use of aqueous and acetone plant extracts in combating plant diseases caused by fungi as an alternative to fungicides, as plant extracts are considered safe and environmentally friendly, while pesticides have a toxic effect and thus leave health problems that negatively affect the consumer of foodstuffs.