Abstract
This study was aimed at testing the integrated use of a natural biostimulant based on seaweed ( Ascophyllum nodosum ) and plant (alfalfa and sugarcane) extracts and reduced dosages of the conventional synthetic fungicide Imazalil (IMZ) to manage postharvest rots of orange fruits. The following aspects were investigated: (i) the effectiveness of postharvest treatment with natural biostimulant alone or in mixture with IMZ at a reduced dose against green mold caused by Penicillium digitatum ; (ii) the differential expression of defense genes in orange fruits treated with the natural biostimulant both alone and in combination with a reduced dose of IMZ; (iii) the persistence of the inhibitory activity of both biostimulant and the mixture biostimulant/IMZ against green mold; and (iv) the residue level of fungicide in citrus peel when applied alone or in combination with the biostimulant. Treatments with the chemical plant resistance-inducer potassium phosphite, alone or with a reduced dose of IMZ, were included for comparison. The mixture of natural biostimulant and IMZ at a low dose consistently reduced the incidence and severity of fruit green mold and induced a significant increase of the expression level of β-1,3-glucanase-, peroxidase (PEROX)-, and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL)-encoding genes in fruit peel, suggesting that the natural biostimulant elicits a long-lasting resistance of citrus fruits to infections by P. digitatum . Interestingly, the residual concentration of IMZ in fruits treated with the biostimulant/fungicide mixture was significantly lower than that of IMZ in fruits treated only with the fungicide at the same dose and by far below the threshold values set by the European Union. This study laid the foundations for (i) conceiving a practical and more eco-friendly alternative to the conventional postharvest management of green mold of citrus fruits, based almost exclusively on the use of synthetic fungicide IMZ, alone or mixed with potassium phosphite and (ii) providing a better insight into the mechanisms of disease resistance induction by biostimulants.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulant plus low-dose IMZ reduced green mold incidence.
- Taxon
- Orange Fruitst0
- Treatment
- mixture of natural biostimulant and IMZ at a low dosee0
- Interactor
- Penicillium digitatum
Penicillium digitatume1pathogen - Outcome
- incidencee0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Orange Fruits”
e0“The mixture of natural biostimulant and IMZ at a low dose consistently reduced the incidence and severity of fruit green mold”
e1“green mold caused by Penicillium digitatum”
Claim · model-written summary
Biostimulant plus low-dose IMZ reduced green mold severity.
- Taxon
- Orange Fruitst0
- Treatment
- mixture of natural biostimulant and IMZ at a low dosee0
- Interactor
- Penicillium digitatumPenicillium digitatume1pathogen
- Outcome
- severity of fruit green molde0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Orange Fruits”
e0“The mixture of natural biostimulant and IMZ at a low dose consistently reduced the incidence and severity of fruit green mold”
e1“green mold caused by Penicillium digitatum”
Claim · model-written summary
The mixture significantly increased expression of three defense gene groups in fruit peel.
- Taxon
- Orange Fruitst0
- Organ / stage
- fruit peele0
- Treatment
- mixture of natural biostimulant and IMZ at a low dosee0
- Outcome
- expression level of β-1,3-glucanase-, peroxidase (PEROX)-, and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL)-encoding genese0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
t0“Orange Fruits”
e0“The mixture of natural biostimulant and IMZ at a low dose consistently reduced the incidence and severity of fruit green mold and induced a significant increase of the expression level of β-1,3-glucanase-, peroxidase (PEROX)-, and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL)-encoding genes in fruit peel”
Claim · model-written summary
IMZ residue was significantly lower with the mixture than with fungicide alone at the same dose.
Verbatim
t0“Orange Fruits”
e0“the residual concentration of IMZ in fruits treated with the biostimulant/fungicide mixture was significantly lower than that of IMZ in fruits treated only with the fungicide at the same dose and by far below the threshold values set by the European Union”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors interpret the treatment response as long-lasting resistance to P. digitatum.
- Taxon
- Orange Fruitst0
- Treatment
- natural biostimulante0
- Interactor
- P. digitatumPenicillium digitatume0pathogen
- Outcome
- long-lasting resistance of citrus fruits to infections by P. digitatume0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Orange Fruits”
e0“suggesting that the natural biostimulant elicits a long-lasting resistance of citrus fruits to infections by P. digitatum”
The same questions in other papers
enilconazole · Penicillium digitatum · Citrus sinensis (sweet orange)Results agree
3 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
fungicide · molecular: metabolites · Citrus sinensis (sweet orange)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- negative
other · molecular: metabolites · Citrus sinensis (sweet orange)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
other · physiology: antioxidant enzymes · Citrus sinensis (sweet orange)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.