Abstract
Phytopathogenic fungal growth in postharvest fruits and vegetables is responsible for 20–25% of production losses. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been gaining importance in the food industry as a safe and ecofriendly alternative to pesticides for combating these phytopathogenic fungi. In this study, we analysed the ability of some VOCs produced by strains of the genera Bacillus, Peribacillus, Pseudomonas, Psychrobacillus and Staphylococcus to inhibit the growth of Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Monilinia fructicola, Monilinia laxa and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, in vitro and in vivo. We analysed bacterial VOCs by using GC/MS and 87 volatile compounds were identified, in particular acetoin, acetic acid, 2,3-butanediol, isopentanol, dimethyl disulphide and isopentyl isobutanoate. In vitro growth inhibition assays and in vivo experiments using cherry fruits showed that the best producers of VOCs, Bacillus atrophaeus L193, Bacillus velezensis XT1 and Psychrobacillus vulpis Z8, exhibited the highest antifungal activity against B. cinerea, M. fructicola and M. laxa, which highlights the potential of these strains to control postharvest diseases. Transmission electron microscopy micrographs of bacterial VOC-treated fungi clearly showed antifungal activity which led to an intense degeneration of cellular components of mycelium and cell death.
Highlights
The world population has increased by 1 billion over the last 10 years, reaching a total of 7.8 billion currently, which is expected to rise by a further 1 billion by 2030
We examined the phytopathogenic fungi A. alternata CECT 20560, B. cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum CECT 2159, Fusarium solani [isolated from Solanum tuberosum and kindly provided by the Andalusian Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training Institute (IFAPA), Cordoba, Spain], Monilinia fructicola, Monilinia laxa and S. sclerotiorum CECT 2769
The Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by the six bacterial strains, B. atrophaeus L193, B. velezensis XT1, Peribacillus sp
Summary
The world population has increased by 1 billion over the last 10 years, reaching a total of 7.8 billion currently, which is expected to rise by a further 1 billion by 2030. Due to the toxicological risks involved, chemicals registered for postharvest use are severely limited while consumer awareness of the need for pesticidefree food has been increasing (Gao et al, 2017; Lastochkina et al, 2020). Given their safe, ecofriendly and sustainability properties, biopesticides, which meet the global strategic requirements of organic agriculture, could be a desirable alternative to traditional pesticides (Wu et al, 2019; Zheng et al, 2019)
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