Mechanism of Antifungal Activity of Piperine against Botrytis cinerea

P iperine is a major component of plants of the Piperaceae family which is widely used in medical science. Botrytis cinerea is one of the most important phytopathogenic fungi causes postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables. To verify the possibility of using piperine as a botanical fungicide against B. cinerea, we determined the in vivo and in vitro antifungal activity of piperine against B. cinerea and investigated its antifungal mechanism effects on the mycelial surface, membrane integrity, soluble protein content, superoxide dismutase, catalase, succinate dehydrogenase and the malondialdehyde content of B. cinerea. The in vitro antifungal activity assay indicated that the EC50 value of piperine against B. cinerea was 58.66 μg/mL and the in vivo antifungal assay showed that piperine at 400 μg/mL suppressed 93.88% growth of B. cinerea on Lycopersic esculentum. The antifungal mechanism assay showed that piperine could inhibit mycelial growth of B. cinerea by reducing antioxidant activity, inhibiting the tricarboxylic acid pathway, and lysing the cell membrane. All these results indicated that piperine as a natural component has the potential to control B. cinerea and can be considered as a botanical fungicide for postharvest disease control of gray mold.