Antifungal efficacy of botanicals against major postharvest pathogens of Kinnow mandarin and their use to maintain postharvest quality

Abstract

-Introduction. Kinnow is an important citrus crop grown in India, which suffers from several postharvest diseases during storage. Hence, an attempt was made to combat such diseases with the botanicals Aloe vera, Eucalyptus and Ocimum on Kinnow mandarin to prolong its availability for a longer time. Materials and methods. For this, in vitro and in vivo studies were conducted. The poisoned food technique was used for in vitro studies, and, for in vivo studies, Kinnow fruit were pre-inoculated with pathogens (Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum), treated with different botanicals, then stored at (5 ± 1)°C temperature and 85-90% RH. Results and discussion. Our results indicated that all botanicals inhibited the growth (colony diameter) of both pathogens over untreated PDA plates, but the inhibition was the strongest by Aloe vera extracts. Similarly, under in vivo conditions, all botanicals influenced the decay incidence, decay loss, lesion diameter, respiration rate, ethylene evolution and physiological loss in weight, but Aloe vera was the most effective. All the botanicals were able to retain postharvest quality of Kinnow fruits without any adverse effect on quality parameters such as TSS, TA and ascorbic acid. Under in vivo conditions, the incidence of Penicillium italicum was higher than P. digitatum; however, it was the reverse under in vitro conditions. Conclusion. Thus, it is evident from our studies that botanicals have the potential to control green and blue mold without causing any injury or harmful effects on Kinnow mandarin; botanicals can be recommended as a safe method for extending its storage life while maintaining fruit quality at the same time.India / Citrus / mandarins / fruits / postharvest control / biological control / respiration rate / keeping quality Efficacité antifongique de certaines espèces botaniques contre d'importants agents pathogènes d'après-récolte chez la mandarine Kinnow et leur utilisation pour maintenir la qualité après-récolte.Résumé -Introduction. La mandarine Kinnow est une importante variété d'agrume cultivée en Inde, sensible à plusieurs maladies d'après-récolte pendant son stockage. À cause de cela, une tentative a été faite pour combattre de telles maladies de la mandarine Kinnow à l'aide d'espèces botaniques telles que Aloe vera, Eucalyptus et Ocimum et prolonger ainsi sa disponibilité. Matériel et méthodes. Des études in vitro et in vivo ont été entreprises. La technique de nourriture polluée a été utilisée pour des études in vitro et, pour les études in vivo, les fruits de Kinnow ont été pré-inoculés avec des agents pathogènes (Penicillium digitatum et P. italicum), traités avec différentes espèces botaniques, puis conservés à la température de (5 ± 1)°C et 85-90 % de HR. Résultats et discussion. In vitro, nos résultats ont indiqué que chacune des espèces botaniques testées a empêché la croissance (diamètre des colonies) des deux pathogènes dans les boites traitées par rapport aux boites non traitées, mais l'inhibition a été la plus forte avec les extraits ...

GRAS, plant- and animal-derived compounds as alternatives to conventional fungicides for the control of postharvest diseases of fresh horticultural produce

“…Early work by Saks and Barkai-Golan (1995) showed significant activity of A. vera gels against P. digitatum and against green mold on grapefruits artificially inoculated with this fungus. Recently, Jhalegar et al (2014) found that an A. vera-based coating reduced green and blue molds on mandarins. Other research showed the in vitro inhibitory activity of A. vera gels against the most important postharvest pathogens of stone fruits and table grapes, and also the high antifungal action of preharvest or postharvest coating applications of these gels on several species of stone fruits (Martínez-Romero et al, 2006;Guillén et al, 2013), table grapes (Valverde et al, 2005), strawberries (Sogvar et al, 2016), and avocados (Bill et al, 2014).…”

Development of a Microbial Decontamination System Combining Washing with Highly Activated Calcium Oxide Solution and Antimicrobial Coating for Improvement of Mandarin Storability

“…When the mandarin samples were stored at 4°C for 35 days, P. digitatum growth was not observed on any fruit surface, indicating no identifiable inhibitory effects of the treatments against P. digitatum growth at this temperature (data not shown). This likely occurred because P. digitatum exhibits reported difficulty growing at temperatures below 10°C (Jhalegar, Sharma, & Singh, 2014). Figure 2 shows the effects of GSE/CW coating with or without CaO washing on the growth of P. digitatum inoculated on mandarin samples during storage for 14 days at 25°C.…”

Preserving postharvest storage quality of fresh-cut cactus pears by using different bio-materials

“…There is no published literature about the V. vinifera and cactus gel, whereas high potential of A. vera gel on the prevention of microbial spoilage was previously noted for other fruits and vegetables, i.e. tomato (Chrysargyris et al 2016), citrus (Jhalegar et al 2014), raspberry (Hassanpour et al 2015), and readyto-eat pomegranate arils (Martínez-Romero et al 2013). Reduction of the microbial decay is indispensable for prolonging the safe storage of fresh-cut products (Li et al 2018).…”