when
they reported that heated diluted ethanol treatments
controlled postharvest decay of strawberries caused by
B. cinerea and R. stolonifer. A similar approach, employing
exposure to 10–20% (v/v) ethanol at 46 to 50C for up to
2Æ5 min, controlled green mould on lemons, caused by
Penicillium digitatum (Pers.: Fr.), and Monilinia fructicola
(Wint.) on peaches and nectarines (Smilanick et al. 1995;
Margosan et al. 1997). In preliminary experiments, we
found that immersion of grapes in heated diluted ethanol
solutions effectively controlled grey mould on grapes
inoculated with B. cinerea (unpublished data). However,
the relationship between ethanol concentration and temperature
on the mortality of spores of fungi that are common
postharvest pathogens, namely R. stolonifer, A. niger, B.
cinerea and A. alternata has not been quantified yet.
The objectives of this study were to quantify the toxicity
of combinations of solution temperature and ethanol concentration
to spores of B. cinerea, A. alternata, A. niger and
R. stolonifer, and to prepare statistical models that predict
the inhibition of each fungus.