International on-line Course on

Postharvest & Fresh-cut Technologies

Postharvest pathology

Prof. Dr. Lluís Palou

Laboratory of Pathology.
Postharvest Technology Center (CTP).
Valencian Institute of Agrarian Research (IVIA).
Apartat Oficial, 46113 Montcada, Valencia. SPAIN
Phone: +34 963424117 E-mail: palou_llu@gva.es
 Contents
 Major postharvest diseases
 Epidemiology of postharvest diseases
 Disease control strategies
 Alternative antifungal postharvest treatments
 Physical control methods
 Chemical control methods
 Biological control methods
 Combination of alternative methods
Postharvest diseases

Major postharvest diseases

Citrus fruits

Green mold
Penicillium digitatum

Blue mold
Penicillium italicum
Postharvest diseases

Major postharvest diseases

Pome fruits Stone fruits

Blue mold
Penicillium expansum Brown rot
Monilinia spp.
Postharvest diseases

Major postharvest diseases

Strawberries/small berries Grapes
Gray mold
Botrytis cinerea

Gray mold
Botrytis cinerea
Postharvest diseases

Major postharvest diseases

Pomegranate

Persimmon

Blue/green mold
Penicillium spp.

Black spot
Alternaria alternata
Postharvest diseases

Major postharvest diseases

Banana
Anthracnose
Fresh date
Colletotrichum musae

Blue mold
Penicillium expansum
Postharvest diseases

Major postharvest diseases

Avocado
Mango
Stem-end rot
Lasiodiplodia theobromae

Anthracnose
Colletotrichum gloeosporioides
 Postharvest disease epidemiology

Epidemiology of postharvest diseases

Disease triangle
Pathogen Contamination

Inoculum
production and
dissemination Development and
Infection colonization

Environmental
Fruit host
conditions

Susceptibility
Mold/Rot
(disease symptoms)

Palou, 2020
 Postharvest disease epidemiology

Types of pathogens
1. Harvest/postharvest infections

Orchard Harvest Packinghouse

Wound Pathogen

pathogens

Environmental
conditions Fruit host

Palou, 2020
 Postharvest disease epidemiology

Types of pathogens
2. Preharvest infections

Orchard Harvest Packinghouse

Pathogen
Latent or Pathogen
quiescent
pathogens

Environmental Environmental
conditions Fruit host conditions Fruit host

Palou, 2020
Postharvest disease epidemiology

Examples
 Wound pathogens
 Green and blue molds (Penicillium spp.)
 Sour rot (Geotrichum spp.)
 Rhizopus rot (Rhizopus spp.)

 Latent pathogens
 Brown rot (Monilinia spp.)
 Black spot/rot (Alternaria spp.)
 Gray mold (Botrytis cinerea)
 Stem-end rots (Lasiodiplodia spp.,
Phomopsis spp., Neofusicoccum spp., etc.)
 Anthracnose (Colletotrichum spp.)
Disease control strategies

Control of postharvest diseases

 Postharvest treatments not authorized
 Depending on the production area: EU, etc.
 Use of conventional chemical synthetic fungicides
 Citrus, pome fruits, tropical fruits, stone fruits, etc
- Imazalil (IMZ), thiabendazole (TBZ),
pyrimethanil (PYR), fludioxonil (FLU),...
 Emergency registrations (2018, 2019):
pomegranate, persimmon
 Grapes
- Sulfur dioxide (SO2): fumigation, pads
 Alternative antifungal postharvest treatments
 Non-Polluting integrated disease
management (NPIDM)
 Physical, chemical, biological
Disease control strategies

Problems related to conventional fungicides

 Chemical residues on/in fruit
 Release of chemical residues to environment
 Proliferation of resistant pathogenic strains
 Lengthy and costly for companies the development and
registration of new active ingredients. Postharvest market
relatively small, limited benefits
 Limited access to particular markets
 Some export clients demand lower residues than MRL
(maximum residue limit) established by legislation and
maximum total number of applied active ingredients
 Increasing importance of organic, green markets
Disease control strategies

NPIDM
Non-Polluting Integrated Disease Management
 Knowledge of pathogen epidemiology and all preharvest,
harvest, and postharvest factors that can influence the
incidence of postharvest diseases (disease triangle)
 Take action on every factor at the right moment through
non-polluting means to minimize economical losses

Preharvest actions Actions at harvest Postharvest actions

Disease control strategies

Preharvest actions

 Cultural practices
 Removal of wood and fruit from the
orchard soil

 Field antifungal treatments

 To reduce fungal inoculum levels
 Application of authorized fungicides
 To protect the fruit
 Application of salts, biocontrol agents
 To induce fruit resistance to infection
 Application of growth regulators
Disease control strategies

Preharvest actions

 Fruit segregation
 Studies on species and cultivar
relative susceptibility

 Predictive models. Influence of

weather, orchard, or production
factors on:
 Fungal inoculum levels
 Fruit natural resistance to infection
Disease control strategies

Actions at harvest
 Essential careful harvest to minimize rind wounds and
mechanical injuries!!!!

 Conscientious and very well trained team of harvesters

 Use of proper tools, techniques, and packages for

harvesting and transportation
Disease control strategies

Postharvest actions

 Appropriate fruit transportation and

handling

 Effective packinghouse sanitation:

cleaning and disinfection
 Minimize packinghouse reinfections
 Packinglines, degreening and storage
rooms, field containers and packages
 Programmed season schedule
Disease control strategies

Postharvest actions
 Application of antifungal treatments
 Sanitizers (superficial disinfection)
 Chlorine and derivatives [NaClO, ClO2, Ca(ClO)2]
 Ozone (O3)
 Peracetic acid (PAA)
 Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
 Mixtures

 Alternative antifungal treatments

 Physical, chemical, biological
Alternative antifungal treatments: physical

Physical control methods

 Antifungal treatments
 Heat treatments: curing, hot water
 Irradiations: UV-C light, other irradiations
 Gaseous shocks

 Complementary treatments
 Cold storage
 Cold storage in controlled (CA) or modified (MA)
atmospheres
 Conventional: low O2, CO2
 Hipobaric: 75-175 mm Hg
 Ozonated:0.1-1 ppm O3
Alternative antifungal treatments: physical

Heat treatments
 Curing (hot air)
 Storage at high temperature (>30ºC) y RH (>90%)
for 1-3 days

 Hot water
 Immersion: 1-5 min dips in water at > 40ºC
 Hot water rinsing and brushing (HWRB):
10-30 s at 55-65ºC over rotating brushes
Alternative antifungal treatments: physical

Irradiation
 UV-C light
 Illumination with far UV light (100-280
nm) at low doses (0.5-8 kJ/m2)
 Different experimental prototypes
 Need to be effectively integrated in
the packingline

 Other irradiation
 Ionizing radiation: γ rays (radioactive), β rays
(electron beam), X rays
 Pulsed light
 Radiofrequency
 Microwaves
Alternative antifungal treatments: chemical

Low-toxicity chemical methods

Natural or synthetic compounds with known and minimal

toxicological effects on mammals and environment

 Natural compounds
 Food additives and GRAS compounds
 Disease resistance inducers
 Antifungal edible coatings
Alternative antifungal treatments: chemical

Natural compounds
 Volatiles, essential oils, plant extracts
 Acetaldehyde, jasmonates, ethanol, hexanal, citral,
flavanones, polymetoxyflavones, coumarins, etc....
 Thymus spp., Mentha spp., Myrtus spp., Eucaliptus spp.,
Camelia spp., Cinnamomum spp., Rosmarinus spp.,
Origanum spp., Salvia spp., Acacia spp., Artemisia spp.,
etc.

 Peptides and proteins

Alternative antifungal treatments: chemical

Food additives and GRAS compounds

 Inorganic salts: carbonates, bicarbonates,... Na, K,...
 Organic salts: sorbates, benzoates, parabens... Na,
K,...

 1-5 min dips in 2-4% solutions. Synergy with heat (40-50ºC)

 Cheap, fungistatic activity, low persistence
 Some commercial implementation (citrus,…)
Alternative antifungal treatments: chemical

Disease resistance inducers

 Preharvest application, but also postharvest

(generally lower activity)
 Potassium silicate, sodium silicate
 Salicylic acid (SA)
 Benzothiadizole (BTH)
 β-aminobutyric acid (BABA), etc.
Alternative antifungal treatments: chemical

Antifungal edible coatings

 Double function (physiological, pathological):
replace conventional waxes formulated with
synthetic fungicides
 Natural: Chitosan, Aloe spp. gels,...
 Synthetic: composite films and coatings
 Hydrocolloid (proteins/polysaccharides) and lipid
matrixes formulated with antifungal ingredients
 Minor ingredients: emulsifiers, plasticizers,…
 Specific carriers of antifungal ingredients
 Zeolites, β-cyclodextrin, lecithin, Arabic gum,…
Alternative antifungal treatments: chemical

Antifungal edible coatings

 Antifungal ingredients of synthetic composite
coatings
 Food additives and GRAS salts (Na, K, NH4,…)
 Organic salts: sorbates, benzoates, paraben, silicates,…
 Inorganic salts: bicarbonates, carbonates,…

 Natural compounds: essential oils, plant extracts,…

 Antifungal proteins and peptides
 Bacteriocins, lysozyme, nisin,…

 Metal-based nanoparticles
 Metals: Ag, Au,…
 Oxides: ZnO, SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe3O4, Fe2O3,…

 Biocontrol agents: antagonistic microorganisms

Alternative antifungal treatments: biological

Biological control methods

 Antagonistic microorganisms
 Bacteria, yeasts, filamentous fungi
 Control based on interaction between living
organisms. Important worldwide research
 Null effect on ecological balance, high persistence
 Postharvest dip, spray, or drencher applications
as aqueous cell suspensions
 Limitations
 Inconsistent performance
 Excessive specificity
 Lack of curative activity
 Strict regulatory issues that prevent registration
(particularly in EU countries)
 Very few available commercial products
Alternative antifungal treatments: combination

Combination of alternative methods

 Stand-alone treatments
 Alternative antifungal methods cannot reach the levels of
efficacy, persistence, and broad-spectrum activity of
conventional chemical fungicides
 Combination of two or more treatments
 Additive or synergistic effects to increase efficacy and/or
persistence
 Complementary effects to obtain both curative and
preventive activity
 Commercial implementation of effective treatments that
are too impractical, costly, or risky as single treatments
 Best combined
 Heat, GRAS compounds, biocontrol agents
 Alternative antifungal treatments: adoption

Adoption of alternative methods

 Fundamental for NPIDM strategies
 Need to adapt to each pathosystem
 Basic research on disease triangle aspects
 Applied research on particular commercial situations

 General limitations
 Lack of efficacy, persistence, and broad-spectrum activity
with respect to conventional fungicides. Need of combined
treatments
 Efficacy often dependent on treated fruit species and cultivar
 Technological problems for commercial implementation
 Limited use for current availability of conventional fungicides
Alternative antifungal treatments: adoption

Adoption of alternative methods

 Besides the antifungal activity, it is important to

determine the effect on treated horticultural
produce
 Effect on analytical and sensory quality
 Effect on bioactive compounds and nutritional quality
 Effect on cold storage potential and shelf life
 International on-line Course on
Postharvest & Fresh-cut Technologies

Postharvest pathology

Prof. Dr. Lluís Palou

Laboratory of Pathology.
Postharvest Technology Center (CTP).
Valencian Institute of Agrarian Research (IVIA).
Apartat Oficial, 46113 Montcada, Valencia. SPAIN
Phone: +34 963424117 E-mail: palou_llu@gva.es