Abstracts of Presentations at the 2021 APS Caribbean Division Meeting

DI PETO, PIA DE LOS ANGELES; GRELLET BOURNONVILLE, CARLOS FROILÁN; POTOLICCHIO, AGOSTINA MARIA; TREJO, MARIA FERNANDA; TOULET, MARIA LAURA; NOGUERA, ALDO; FOGLIATA, GABRIELA; MORETTI, ENRIQUE; BJORN GUNNAR VIKING WELIN

PHYTOPATHOLOGY

AMER PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOC

Año: 2022 vol. 112 p. 11 - 117

0031-949X

Citrus sour rot, caused by the fungus Geotrichum citri-aurantii, is one of the main postharvest diseases of the fruit. Currently, none of the fungicides allowed by the European Union is capable of inhibiting this pathogen, which makes it necessary to search for alternative strategies for its control. It has been shown that PSP2, a product obtained from strawberry leaves, has antifungal activity in vitro against Penicillium digitatum (causal agent of green mold) and its application in lemons previously inoculated with this pathogen, reduced the incidence of the disease by 50%. Our objective was to increase the bioactivity of PSP2 by modifying its obtainment protocol and evaluating its effectiveness against G. citri-aurantii under in vitro conditions. Strawberry leaf extracts were prepared by varying the percentage of ethanol between 10 and 90% and the extraction temperature between 10 and 50oC, and the antifungal activity of each extract was evaluated by the agar diffusion method. Then, the extract with the highest activity was evaluated for its ability to inhibit the germination of G. citri-aurantii spores in liquid medium. The extract obtained with 50% ethanol at 30oC presented the highest activity values, reaching 93% inhibition of germination of the fungus spores after 24 hours of contact. These results show that PSP2 has antifungal activity against G. citri-aurantii and this could be evaluated in fruits as an alternative for the control of sour rot.