Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat

Green and blue molds, caused by the fungi Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum, respectively, are the most economically important citrus postharvest diseases in Mediterranean climate areas such as Spain. Due to its high efficacy, persistence, and antisporulant activity, imazalil (IMZ), an imidazole...

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Autores principales: Palou, Lluís, García Rodríguez, Alfonso, Pérez-Gago, María B.
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/9014
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author Palou, Lluís
García Rodríguez, Alfonso
Pérez-Gago, María B.
author2 Palou, Lluís
author_browse García Rodríguez, Alfonso
Palou, Lluís
Pérez-Gago, María B.
author_facet Palou, Lluís
Palou, Lluís
García Rodríguez, Alfonso
Pérez-Gago, María B.
author_sort Palou, Lluís
collection ReDivia
description Green and blue molds, caused by the fungi Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum, respectively, are the most economically important citrus postharvest diseases in Mediterranean climate areas such as Spain. Due to its high efficacy, persistence, and antisporulant activity, imazalil (IMZ), an imidazole, is the most used synthetic chemical fungicide to control these diseases worldwide. However, due to health and environmental issues, export markets and commercial channels are increasingly demanding citrus fruit with null or reduced fungicide residues. Furthermore, in the European Union, this is also an important requirement of the Farm to Fork strategy for agricultural production within the European Green Deal. Nevertheless, in terms of design of antifungal postharvest treatments, fungicide residue reduction needs to be correctly done to avoid the lack of treatment effectiveness and the proliferation of resistant strains of the target fungal pathogens. In this work, low IMZ doses (25 and 50 ppm) were combined with the food additive (E211) and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) compound sodium benzoate (SB) (3% w v-1) and heat in dip trials with citrus fruit artificially inoculated with P. digitatum or P. italicum. Dip treatments at 50ºC for 60 s with IMZ+SB resulted in reductions of the incidence of green and blue molds with respect to control fruit (treated with water at 20ºC) higher than 90% on ‘Valencia’ oranges incubated at 20ºC for 7 days, while IMZ or SB alone at 20 or 50ºC reduced disease incidence by 50-70%. Similar results were obtained when 25 ppm IMZ, 3% SB and the combination of these treatments, all applied at 50ºC for 60 s, were tested on artificially inoculated ‘Lanelate’ oranges and ‘Ortanique’ mandarins incubated at 20ºC for 7 days, and also on ‘Valencia’ oranges cold-stored for up to 8 weeks at 5ºC followed by a shelf-life period of 1 week at 20ºC. Therefore, heated mixed aqueous solutions of IMZ at low doses and SB may be an interesting integrated tool to reduce postharvest fungicide residues on citrus fruit while obtaining high decay control levels.
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institution Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)
language Inglés
publishDate 2025
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spelling ReDivia90142025-04-25T14:50:55Z Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat Palou, Lluís García Rodríguez, Alfonso Pérez-Gago, María B. Palou, Lluís Citrus spp. Penicillium digitatum Penicillium italicum Integrated postharvest decay control Fungicide reduction GRAS compounds Heated solutions Green and blue molds, caused by the fungi Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum, respectively, are the most economically important citrus postharvest diseases in Mediterranean climate areas such as Spain. Due to its high efficacy, persistence, and antisporulant activity, imazalil (IMZ), an imidazole, is the most used synthetic chemical fungicide to control these diseases worldwide. However, due to health and environmental issues, export markets and commercial channels are increasingly demanding citrus fruit with null or reduced fungicide residues. Furthermore, in the European Union, this is also an important requirement of the Farm to Fork strategy for agricultural production within the European Green Deal. Nevertheless, in terms of design of antifungal postharvest treatments, fungicide residue reduction needs to be correctly done to avoid the lack of treatment effectiveness and the proliferation of resistant strains of the target fungal pathogens. In this work, low IMZ doses (25 and 50 ppm) were combined with the food additive (E211) and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) compound sodium benzoate (SB) (3% w v-1) and heat in dip trials with citrus fruit artificially inoculated with P. digitatum or P. italicum. Dip treatments at 50ºC for 60 s with IMZ+SB resulted in reductions of the incidence of green and blue molds with respect to control fruit (treated with water at 20ºC) higher than 90% on ‘Valencia’ oranges incubated at 20ºC for 7 days, while IMZ or SB alone at 20 or 50ºC reduced disease incidence by 50-70%. Similar results were obtained when 25 ppm IMZ, 3% SB and the combination of these treatments, all applied at 50ºC for 60 s, were tested on artificially inoculated ‘Lanelate’ oranges and ‘Ortanique’ mandarins incubated at 20ºC for 7 days, and also on ‘Valencia’ oranges cold-stored for up to 8 weeks at 5ºC followed by a shelf-life period of 1 week at 20ºC. Therefore, heated mixed aqueous solutions of IMZ at low doses and SB may be an interesting integrated tool to reduce postharvest fungicide residues on citrus fruit while obtaining high decay control levels. 2025-01-07T08:04:49Z 2025-01-07T08:04:49Z 2024 Palou, L., García-Rodríguez, A., Pérez-Gago, M. B. 2025. Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat. Proceedings of VII International Symposium on Postharvest Pathology, Postharvest 2024. 11-15 noviembre, 2024, Rotorua, Nueva Zelanda. Acta Horticulturae, in press. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/9014 en 2024-11-11 VII International Symposium on Postharvest Pathology, Postharvest 2024 Rotorua (New Zealand) openAccess electronico
spellingShingle Citrus spp.
Penicillium digitatum
Penicillium italicum
Integrated postharvest decay control
Fungicide reduction
GRAS compounds
Heated solutions
Palou, Lluís
García Rodríguez, Alfonso
Pérez-Gago, María B.
Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat
title Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat
title_full Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat
title_fullStr Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat
title_full_unstemmed Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat
title_short Reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat
title_sort reduction of imazalil doses for the control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds through the combination with sodium benzoate and heat
topic Citrus spp.
Penicillium digitatum
Penicillium italicum
Integrated postharvest decay control
Fungicide reduction
GRAS compounds
Heated solutions
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/9014
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