Potential of chitosan coating in delaying the postharvest anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz.) of Eksotika II papaya |
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| Authors: | Asgar Ali Mahmud Tengku Muda Muhammad Kamaruzaman Sijam Yasmeen Siddiqui |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, 43500 Selangor, D.E., Malaysia;2. Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400 Selangor, D.E., Malaysia;3. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400 Selangor, D.E., Malaysia;4. Laboratory of Food Crops and Floriculture, Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400 Selangor, D.E., Malaysia |
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| Abstract: | The in vitro and in vivo fungicidal activity of chitosan was studied against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, the causal agent of anthracnose in papaya fruits. Chitosan at 1.5% and 2.0% concentrations showed a fungistatic effect with 90–100% inhibition (significant at P ≤ 0.05) of the fungal mycelial growth. Changes in the conidial morphology were also observed with the higher chitosan concentrations after 7‐ h incubation. In vivo studies showed that 1.5% and 2.0% chitosan coatings on papaya not only controlled the fruit decay but also delayed the onset of disease symptoms by 3–4 weeks during 5 weeks storage at 12 ± 1 °C and slowed down the subsequent disease development. However, when leaving the fruits to ripen at ambient temperature (28 ± 2 °C), 2.0% chitosan was less effective than 1.5% in controlling the disease development. Chitosan coatings also delayed the ripening process by maintaining the firmness levels, soluble solids concentration and titratable acidity values during and after storage. |
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| Keywords: | Anthracnose chitosan disease development papaya |
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