Abstract
Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. is one of the most cultivated and widely consumed vegetables in the world. However, it is very susceptible to the infection initiated by Fusariumoxysporum fruit rot, which shortens post-harvest life and thus reduces market value. This disease can be regulated appropriately by the application of synthetic fungicides. However, chemical fungicides constitute a serious health risk, and have harmful environment effects and increase disease resistance, even when microbes are dead. Hence, to overcome this problem, chitosan and vanillin, which have antimicrobial bioactive properties against the growth of microorganisms, could be an alternative to disease control, while maintaining fruit quality and prolonging shelf life. The aim of this research was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of chitosan and vanillin towards the inoculate pathogen and to investigate the effect of chitosan and vanillin coating in vivo on Fusarium oxysporum fruit rot and defense-related enzymes (PAL, PPO and POD). Chitosan and vanillin in aqueous solutions, i.e., 0.5% chitosan + 10 mM vanillin, 1% chitosan + 10 mM vanillin, 1.5% chitosan + 10 mM vanillin, 0.5% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin, 1% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin and 1.5% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin, were used as edible coatings on tomatoes stored at 26 ± 2 °C and 60 ± 5 relative humidity. The result revealed 1.5% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin was able to control disease incidence by 70.84% and severity by 70%. These combinations of coatings were also able to retain phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), peroxidase activity (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme activities as well as prolong shelf life of tomatoes up to 15 days.
Highlights
Tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) is the second most important vegetable after the potato, and it can be consumed either raw or cooked [1]
By storage day 9, disease incidence (DI) in fruit treated with 1% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin and 1.5% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin remained low as compared to the negative and positive control fruit and those coated with 0.5% chitosan + 10 mM vanillin, 1% chitosan + 10 mM vanillin, 1.5% chitosan + 10 mM and 0.5% chitosan + 10 mM vanillin
At the end of storage, all fruit was severely infected by the disease, but the fruit treated with 1% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin and 1.5% chitosan + 15 mM vanillin showed lower incidence than other treatments
Summary
Tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) is the second most important vegetable after the potato, and it can be consumed either raw or cooked [1]. Tomato fruit contains impressive health benefits due to its significant bioactive antioxidant compounds with β-carotene, lycopene, flavonoids, organic acids, chlorophyll and vitamins [2]. The application of synthetic fungicides such as carbendazim, chlorothalonil and mancozeb [7] is commonly used to control this disease. This control measure has negative impacts on human health and the environment due to chemical residues and an increase in pathogen resistance [8]. Public anxiety over sustainable food production and safety has resulted in attempts to find new control agents for postharvest diseases; this has led us to study the effects of combining chitosan and vanillin as natural antimicrobials in controlling tomato postharvest disease
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