The current study was conducted to evaluate the inhibitory effects of citral against various fungal pathogens viz: Botryosphaeria dothidea, Phomopsis macrospore, and Botrytis cinerea. The present study aimed to describe the antifungal mechanism of citral against B. dothidea, which is not fully elucidated yet. According to the results, citral showed potent inhibition on the hyphal growth of the three studied fungi with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.4 μL/mL. Citral changed the morphological characteristics of fungal hyphae of B. dothidea by resulting in the loss of cellular content and distortion of mycelia. Membrane permeability was increased by citral, as evidenced by increases in extracellular electrical conductivity and optical density (OD₂₆₀) and a decrease in soluble protein content in B. dothidea. A decline in the range of ergosterol levels proved that citral impaired the physiology of the cell membrane. Furthermore, the higher citral concentrations decrease the level of respiration-associated enzymes resulting in the disruption of energy metabolism. Importantly, citral also showed positive effects on fruit quality and reduced the decay rate of kiwifruit. These findings suggest that the antifungal activity of citral could be attributed to the increase in membrane permeability and the damage in the cell membrane. Citral can potentially be used as an alternative for kiwifruit storage.

目前的研究，以评估对多种真菌病原体即柠檬醛的抑制作用：杨树dothidea侵染，拟茎点大孢子和灰霉病。本研究旨在描述柠檬醛对B. dothidea的抗真菌机制，目前尚未完全阐明。根据结果​​，柠檬醛显示出对三种研究真菌的菌丝生长的有效抑制作用，最低抑制浓度为0.4μL/ mL。柠檬醛改变了B. dothidea真菌菌丝的形态特征导致细胞含量的损失和菌丝体的变形。柠檬酸增加了膜的通透性，这通过胞外电导率和光密度（OD ₂₆₀）的增加以及十二指肠中可溶性蛋白质含量的减少来证明。麦角固醇水平范围的下降证明柠檬醛损害了细胞膜的生理。此外，较高的柠檬酸浓度降低了呼吸相关酶的水平，导致能量代谢的中断。重要的是，柠檬醛对果实品质也显示出积极影响，并降低了奇异果的腐烂率。这些发现表明柠檬醛的抗真菌活性可能归因于膜通透性的增加和细胞膜的损伤。柠檬醛可以用作猕猴桃储存的替代品。