Abstract
Blueberries are highly perishable and susceptible to storage spoilage, especially fruit rot diseases caused by fungal pathogens. Alternaria rot caused by Alternaria alternata and gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea are the primary postharvest diseases of blueberries grown in California. We conducted a three-year field experiment to evaluate the effects of preharvest application of Acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) and potassium silicate (PSi) on Alternaria rot and gray mold in blueberry fruit inoculated with these pathogens after harvest, as well as naturally occurring fruit rots, fruit-to-fruit spread of gray mold during cold storage, and fruit quality. After four weeks of cold storage, all inoculated fruit developed rots regardless of the treatments applied in the field. In non-inoculated fruit, ASM significantly reduced the percentage of naturally occurring decayed fruit compared to the non-treated control in 2023 but not in 2021 and 2022. PSi significantly reduced the percentage of decayed fruit compared to the non-treated control in 2021 and 2023, but not in 2022. A significant increase in soluble solids and reduction in titratable acidity were observed in the fruit treated with ASM and PSi for the second and third years of the experiment, indicating that both treatments may have enhanced fruit maturity. Our results suggested that preharvest use of ASM and PSi had limited efficacy in postharvest disease control, but may have potential as tools for adjusting fruit maturity of blueberries.
Published Version
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