Essential tea tree oil as a tool to combat black sigatoka in banana

Black Sigatoka disease, caused by Mycosphaerella fijiensis, is considered the most damaging and costly disease of commercial banana and plantain and is mainly controlled by intensive sprays of synthetic fungicides. Essential tea tree oil derived from Melaleuca alternifolia plant was found to be effective against a wide range of plant-pathogenic fungi including black Sigatoka in conventional production systems and was as effective as synthetic fungicides such as tridemorph, difenoconazole, trifloxystrobin and azoxystrobin. This paper provides evidence that tea tree oil offers an attractive alternative for controlling black Sigatoka in banana plantations.