Effects of yeast antagonists in combination with hot water treatment
on postharvest diseases of tomato fruit
abstract
Hot water treatment (HWT) and two yeast antagonists,Candida guilliermondiiandPichia membranaefaciens were investigated separately and together for controllingBotrytis cinerea, and natural infection in
tomato fruit stored at 20C. Applied separately, both HWT and antagonists inhibited decay caused by
B. cinerea, and natural infection. The combination of antagonists and HWT showed better control efficacy.
Application of HWT did not affect the growth ofC. guilliermondiiandP. membranaefaciensin tomato
wounds, while HWT induced significant increase in the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase
(PAL), chitinase (CHI) andb-1,3-glucanase in fruit. The mechanism by which HWT enhanced the biocontrol efficacy of the antagonistic yeasts may be related to the elicitation of biochemical defense responses
in tomato fruit. The combination of antagonistic yeasts and HWT could be a promising method for the
control of postharvest diseases of tomato fruit.