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| The object of this study was to analyze the impact of the marine yeast Rhodosporidium paludigenum and sodium bicarbonate (SBC) treatments applied separately or in combination to control green mold of two cultivars of citrus fruit (Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Ponkan and Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Subcompressa) caused by Penicillium digitatum. In the assay of C. reticulata Blanco cv. Subcompress, R. paludigenum at 107 cells/ml alone significantly (P<0.05) reduced green mold incidence compared to the control, but was less effective than the 5% SBC alone. The combination of 107 cells/ml R. paludigenum and 5% SBC was as effective as fungicide (name of the fungicide), and significantly (P<0.05) reduced the decay incidence by 22.5%,40.1%, and 66.5%, compared to 107 cells/ml R. paludigenum, 5% SBC and water control, respectively. In the assay of C. reticulata Blanco cv. Ponkan, the treatment with R. paludigenum at 108 cells/ml and 2% SBC were equally effective and significantly (P<0.05) reduced the decay incidence, moreover the combination of the two treatments reduced the decay incidence to 0, which was as effective as fungicide (name of the fungicide). In the population dynamics studies, the survival ability of R. paludigenum in the citrus wounds was enhanced by SBC. The work demonstrated that the proper combination of R. paludigenum and sodium bicarbonate could be an alternative to synthetic fungicides for the control of postharvest green mold of citrus. |
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| Keywords:Citrus; Biocontrol; Green mold; Penicillium digitatum; Sodium bicarbonate; Rhodosporidium paludigenum; Postharvest |
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