Biological Control of Citrus Postharvest Phytopathogens

Abstract

Citrus are vulnerable to the postharvest decay caused by Penicillium digitatum, Penicillium italicum, and Geotrichum citri-aurantii, which are responsible for the green mold, blue mold, and sour rot post-harvest disease, respectively. The widespread economic losses in citriculture caused by these phytopathogens are minimized with the use of synthetic fungicides such as imazalil, thiabendazole, pyrimethanil, and fludioxonil, which are mainly employed as control agents and may have harmful effects on human health and environment. To date, numerous non-chemical postharvest treatments have been investigated for the control of these pathogens. Several studies demonstrated that biological control using microbial antagonists and natural products can be effective in controlling postharvest diseases in citrus, as well as the most used commercial fungicides. Therefore, microbial agents represent a considerably safer and low toxicity alternative to synthetic fungicides. In the present review, these biological control strategies as alternative to the chemical fungicides are summarized here and new challenges regarding the development of shelf-stable formulated biocontrol products are also discussed.

Effects of Hot Air Treatments on Postharvest Storage of Newhall Navel Orange

“…However, the global pressure from consumers about the use of synthetic chemicals encourages scientific studies to develop eco-friendly and safer alternatives to fulfill consumers' demands and to reduce postharvest losses [5]. Edible and medicinal plants, biological methods, and edible coatings were used for the control of citrus postharvest diseases [6][7][8]. Low temperatures are highly effective in reducing weight loss (caused by respiration) and decay incidence; however, citrus fruits are very sensitive to low temperatures [9].…”

Physiological and Proteomic Analysis of Penicillium digitatum in Response to X33 Antifungal Extract Treatment

“…Citrus fruits are vulnerable to pathogen like Penicillium digitatum , Penicillium italicum , and Geotrichum citri-aurantii during the postharvest storage phase ( Moraes Bazioli et al, 2019 ). In particularly, P. digitatum serves as a universal postharvest pathogenic fungi, caused approximately 90% enormous economic loss in the field of agriculture ( Zhu et al, 2017 ).…”

UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS-Based Metabolomics Approach Reveals the Antifungal Potential of Pinocembroside against Citrus Green Mold Phytopathogen

“…Citrus fruit is a major economic crop with a diverse range of species and varieties, including oranges, mandarins, tangerines, pummelos, lemons, citrons, kumquats, limes, and different hybrids [1,2]. Postharvest storage and shelf life of citrus fruit are limited due to the attack of several pathogens such as Penicillium spp., Geotrichum citri-aurantii, Alternaria alternata, and Diaporthe citri being the prevalent postharvest pathogenic fungi in citrus fruit [3][4][5][6]. Among these pathogens, P. digitatum, the causal agent of green mold, is considered one of the most threatening postharvest diseases in citrus fruit.…”