ARS | Publication request: Improving Biocontrol Using Antagonist Mixtures with Heat And/or Sodium Bicarbonate to Control Postharvest Decay of Apple Fruit

Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: April 19, 2004
Publication Date: June 2, 2004
Citation: Conway, W.S., Leverentz, B., Janisiewicz, W.J., Saftner, R.A., Camp, M.J. 2004. Improving biocontrol using antagonist mixtures with heat and/or sodium bicarbonate to control postharvest decay of apple fruit. Phytopathology. 94(Suppl.):Abstract. P. S20.

Technical Abstract: 'Golden Delicious' apples were wound inoculated with either Colletotrichum acutatum or Penicillium expansum and then treated in various combinations with heat (38°C) for four days, 2% sodium bicarbonate, and two biocontrol agents alone or combined. The fruit were stored for four months at 0°C and then at 20°C for two weeks. Antagonists alone reduced decay caused by P. expansum but were more effective when combined. Sodium bicarbonate increased the effectiveness of each antagonist alone or in combination. Heat alone, heat in combination with the antagonists, or a combination of the two antagonists plus sodium bicarbonate eliminated decay. Either heat or the antagonists reduced decay caused by C. acutatum, but a combination of the two was required to eliminate decay caused by this pathogen. Sodium bicarbonate alone had no effect on either pathogen. The research goal is to develop a strategy for control of apple decays that combines several alternate methods of control to replace the use of synthetic fungicides.