Effects of thymol concentration on postharvest diseases and quality of blueberry fruit

Abstract

In this study, we compared the incidence of postharvest disease and the storage potential of blueberry fruit treated with thymol (inoculated with Aspergillus niger) with those in the control fruit during storage for 42 d at 2 °C. Treatment with 10–30 mg/L thymol was found to be more effective than treatment with higher thymol concentrations of 40–50 mg/L in terms of controlling Aspergillus niger-induced decay. In the thymol-treated blueberry fruit peel, the activities of the disease resistance-related enzymes were significantly enhanced. Furthermore, the 20 mg/L thymol-treated blueberry fruit retained the highest firmness, total soluble solids content, and acceptability score, and it also maintained an unimpaired cell wall structure of pericarp quality. Thus, low-dose thymol-treatment could be a suitable biocontrol agent for controlling postharvest disease and prolonging the storage life of blueberry fruit.