Antagonic Agents and Hydrothermal Treatment in the Control of Anthracnosis in Banana cv. 'Pacovan'

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the thermal and biological treatment efficiency of anthracnose (Colletotrichum musae) in banana cv. 'Pacovan'. Three experiments were set up in the laboratory, the first "in vitro" to select the isolate of Trichoderma spp. which had greater mycelial inhibition on plaque, the 2nd "in vivo" was biological control using 2 races of Trichoderma spp. and the 3rd in vivo varying temperatures and exposure times of banana fruits contaminated with Colletotrichum musae. Positive treatments (using fungicide) and negative treatments were done with the application of distilled water only for experiment 2 and 3. The antagonistic biological control agents T2 and T9 were efficient in inhibiting the growth of Colletotrichum musae "in vitro", when analyzed "in vivo" did not have efficiency in the inhibition of the growth of the pathogen. Thermotherapy is a promising technique for the treatment of postharvest rot in banana fruits of 'Pacovan' cultivar, with the best efficiencies observed at 47ºC for 3 and 9 min, and 51º for 3 and 9 min.