Management of postharvest anthracnose of banana using inorganic salts alone and in combination with hot water

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to evaluate selected inorganic salts alone and in combination with hot water for management of banana anthracnose disease. The efficacy of hot water treatment (HWT) and either sodium bicarbonate (SBC), sodium carbonate (SC) or sodium hypochlorite (SH) applied alone and in combination to suppress anthracnose disease was investigated in both naturally infected and artificially inoculated banana fruit cv. Kolikuttu during the storage. The in vitro efficacy of the selected salts on the inhibition of colony growth of the anthracnose fungal pathogen was also tested. Postharvest treatment involving fruit dipped for 30 min in 1% (w/v) SC following HWT (50°C, 3 min) reduced the severity of anthracnose, which was statistically similar (P > 0.05) with that of homai fungicide treatment. Among the tested salts, SC recorded the significantly highest (P < 0.05) in vitro inhibition of mycelial growth of anthracnose pathogen. Integration of SC with HWT could be a commercially acceptable and economically feasible non-fungicidal approach for the postharvest management of anthracnose during the storage of banana.