A significant portion of harvested produce never reaches the consumer due to, postharvest diseases. Various chemicals have been used to reduce the incidence of postharvest diseases. Many of these materials have been removed from the market in recent years due to economic, environmental, or health concerns. Although somewhat limited in the range of diseases controlled, chlorination is effective when combined with proper postharvest handling practices. Additionally, it is a relatively inexpensive postharvest disease control method that poses little threat to health or the environment. The proper use of chlorination in the management of postharvest diseases in fresh fruits and vegetables is discussed.

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Chinese rose (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.) is a shrub frequently planted in Argentina. In November 1999, dieback and anthracnose symptoms were detected on stems and leaves of plants cv. Hawaii cultivated in Buenos Aires. Disease prevalence was 50%. Pieces of infected tissues were surface-sterilized for 1 min in 2% NaOCl, plated on potato-dextrose agar and incubated at 24 ± 2°C. The isolate that was consistently recovered from diseased tissues was identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. and Sacc., based on morphological characteristics (1,2). Teleomorph stage was not observed. Inoculation for pathogenicity testing was carried out by spraying a conidial suspension (6.5 × 106 conidia per ml) on plants with previously punctured leaves and pruned stems. Inoculated plants with unwounded tissues, as well as noninoculated controls, were included. Five replications of each treatment were done. Plants were incubated in moist chambers at 24°C. Whitish areas of 0.3 to 0.5 cm diameter surrounded by a purple halo developed on all punctured leaves within 10 days. Stem blight and leaf drop were observed. The center of the lesions was covered by black acervuli 14 days after inoculation. Unwounded and noninoculated controls remained symptomless. The pathogen was reisolated from inoculated leaves, completing Koch's postulates. This is the first report of C. gloeosporioides causing disease on Chinese rose in Argentina. References: (1) J. A. Bailey and M. J. Jeger, eds. 1992. Colletotrichum. CAB International, Surrey, England. (2) B. C. Sutton. 1980. The Coelomycetes. CMI, Kew.

Commercial packing lines in Sampson County, N.C., were surveyed during two growing seasons to study handling methods on susceptibility of bell pepper fruits (Capsicum annuum L.) to bacterial soft rot (Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora). Samples were taken from two field packers and one packing house in 1991 and from two field packers and four packing houses in 1992. One field packer and one packing house were common to both years. Fruits were either inoculated with bacteria or untreated and stored at 10 or 21C. Damaged fruits were counted and classified as crushed, cut, bruised, abraded, and other injuries. Fruit injury was less dependent on whether the operation was a packing house or a field packing line than on the overall handling practices of the individual grower. In general, packing peppers in packing houses resulted in an increased number of bruises, whereas fruit from field packing lines had more abrasions. More open skin injuries resulted in greater fruit decay. In both years, fruits stored at 10C had less top rot than fruits stored at 21C. In 1992, they also had less pod rot. Dry and chlorinated lines often had equivalent rot problems.