Seaweed Extracts to Control Postharvest Phytopathogenic Fungi in Rocha Pear
2023
Eloísa Toledo | Carina Félix | Tânia F. L. Vicente | Ana Augusto | Rafael Félix | Bernardo Toledo | Joana Silva | Carina Trindade | Délio Raimundo | Marco F. L. Lemos
Fungal infections cause losses amounting to between 20 and 25% of the fruit industry’s total outcome, with an escalating impact on agriculture in the last decades. As seaweeds have long demonstrated relevant antimicrobial properties against a wide variety of microorganisms, extracts from <i>Asparagopsis armata</i>, <i>Codium</i> sp., <i>Fucus vesiculosus</i>, and <i>Sargassum muticum</i> were used to find sustainable, ecofriendly, and safe solutions against Rocha pear postharvest fungal infections. <i>Alternaria alternata</i>, <i>Botrytis cinerea</i>, <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i>, and <i>Penicillium expansum</i> mycelial growth and spore germination inhibition activities were tested in vitro with five different extracts of each seaweed (<i>n</i>-hexane, ethyl acetate, aqueous, ethanolic, and hydroethanolic). An in vivo assay was then performed using the aqueous extracts against <i>B. cinerea</i> and <i>F. oxysporum</i> in Rocha pear. The <i>n</i>-hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanolic extracts from <i>A. armata</i> showed the best in vitro inhibitory activity against <i>B. cinerea, F. oxysporum</i>, and <i>P. expansum,</i> and promising in vivo results against <i>B. cinerea</i> using <i>S. muticum</i> aqueous extract were also found. The present work highlights the contribution of seaweeds to tackle agricultural problems, namely postharvest phytopathogenic fungal diseases, contributing to a greener and more sustainable bioeconomy from the sea to the farm.
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