CONTROL OF POSTHARVEST ANTHRACNOSE DISEASE AND QUALITY OF PAPAYA USING BACILLUS SUBTILIS STRAIN B34 ENHANCED WITH SODIUM BICARBONATE AND ALOE VERA GEL

Abstract

The potentials of using Bacillus subtilis by itself or enhanced with sodium bicarbonate (SBC) and Aloe vera gel (aloe gel) for the control of postharvest anthracnose disease of papaya fruit, and subsequently their effects on postharvest quality of fruit were investigated. B. subtilis B34 showed antagonistic activity against C. gloeosporioides, which was isolated from papaya fruit surface. However, B. subtilis B34 when supplemented with 2% SBC and 20% aloe gel showed a greater control by reducing 98.2% of the disease during storage for 14 days at 12°C and 95% RH, which was superior to that obtained using fungicide, benocide®. Furthermore, the combination of SBC-aloe gel with B. subtilis significantly managed the fruit quality by maintaining fruit firmness, delaying the changes in external color without impairing any other fruit quality parameters during another storage experiment at 12°C and 95% RH for 28 days. Therefore, the combination of B. subtilis strain B34, SBC and Aloe vera gel could be an alternative to synthetic fungicides for the control of postharvest anthracnose disease as well as quality of papaya.