Sustainable control of postharvest fungal diseases in lemons using native killer yeasts

DIB, JULIÁN RAFAEL

Buenos Aires

Otro; Shaping the Future of German-Argentinian Scientific Cooperation:The Role of Curiosity-Driven Research?; 2018

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Argentina stands out worldwide for the production and quality of its lemons. The lemons, once they are harvested, are susceptible to diseases mainly of fungal origin. Among them, the "green mold" produced by the phytopathogenic fungus Penicillium digitatum is one of the most important. To control this type of infections, the citrus industry commonly uses fungicides of chemical origin, among which imazalil and thiabendazole stand out. Despite their high efficiencies, these chemical pesticides have negative consequences for both the environment and human health. Additionally, markets demand less and less chemicals in fruits, which adds to the growing global demand for organic fruit production. This generates the need to develop alternatives that are sustainable and friendlier to the environment. With our working group we have been working on the development of an alternative agent to the synthetics fungicides. The development is based on the biological control of postharvest fungal diseases based on the use of native killer-type yeasts. The killer yeasts studied have proved to be efficient agents in the prevention of infections in lemons and also have high levels of consistency in their bioprotective activity, regardless of the harvest period. The use of yeasts as control agents has numerous advantages, such as the absence of toxicity for the environment and the consumer, and the possibility of producing the agent in large quantities in an economically affordable process. We are currently trying to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the biological control effect.