Abstract
The post-harvest tomato fruit rot caused by Alternaria solani is a major threat to the tomato fruits. Our main objective of this study was to assess the locally available plant based preservatives against post-harvest tomato fruit rot. The in-vitro antifungal effect of 09 different treatments (07 plants based = black pepper, red pepper, turmeric, clove, garlic, onion and papaya seed and 02 chemical preservatives = Potassium metabi-sulphate, PMS and Sodium benzoate, SB) showed significant (P < 0.05 = 0.0000) variation among the treatment groups. Black pepper followed by red pepper and turmeric remained the best antifungal and preservative after 05, 10 and 15 days after treatment (DAT) in B-group (inoculated and uninjured fruits). However, in A-group (inoculated and injured fruits), lowest infection percent was recorded for black pepper followed by red pepper and turmeric after 05, 10 and 15 DAT. The response of all treatments was obvious after 15 DAT. No infection of test fungus was recorded when black pepper and red pepper were applied. Whereas, with the application of turmeric (8.33%) and garlic (9.33%) lowest infection percent was observed with no significant difference. The response of onion (4.33%), papaya seed (6%), clove (7.66%) and SB (15%) appeared moderate with no significant difference. After 30 days, the lowest number of spoilt fruits were recorded with the treatment of black pepper (01) and red pepper (01) followed by turmeric (02), clove (02), onion (02) and SB (02) in B-group. Based on best physical structure, maximum numbers of tomato fruits were observed in clove (04) followed by black pepper (03) and SB (03) when treated without any injury (B group). While in case of A group, almost all fruits in all treatments become spoilt after 30 days of treatment. It has been proved that locally available plant based preservatives have an excellent antifungal and preservative potential against post-harvest tomato fruit rot disease caused by Alternaria solani. These plant based preservatives increase the shelf-life of tomatoes without any health hazards. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time conducted study, where antifungal and preservative potential of locally available plant products against post-harvest tomato fruit rot caused by Alternaria solani have been explored.
Highlights
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) is considered as one of the most important kitchen garden vegetable plant
Studies reveal that several fungal species are associated to cause fungal infections in tomatoes such as Geotrichum candidum, Rhizopus stolonifer, black mould rot caused by Alternaria sp., Fusarium rot by Fusarium sp., are more commonly occurring diseases (Mujib et al, 2007)
In A-group, lowest infection percent was recorded for black pepper (2%) followed by red pepper (3.33%) and turmeric (3.33%); no significant difference was recorded among these three treatments
Summary
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) is considered as one of the most important kitchen garden vegetable plant It is cultivated in large acreage for commercial purpose and requires relatively little space for large production (Nasir et al, 2015). It is herbaceous sprawling plant growing to 1-3 m in height with weak woody stem It is categorized as a vegetable, but in botanical terms, the tomato is the fruit born on a vine. The yield of tomato is affected by number of pathogenic diseases every year Those diseases are caused by different kinds of fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes. Alternaria species are major plant pathogens, which cause at least 20% of agricultural spoilage; most severe losses may reach up to 80% of yield, affecting the leaves, stems, flowers and fruits (Nowicki et al, 2012). Sajad et al (2017) reported that tomato fruits suffered by fruit rot diseases are mainly caused by Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Alternaria alternata, Alternaria solani, Geotrichum candidum, Mucor racemosus, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme, Penicillium digitatum, Rhizopus stolonifer, Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum
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