Quality Retention of Dessert Banana and Other Tropical Fruits by Controlling Postharvest Diseases using Non-Chemical Methods

摘要

Banana and other major tropical fruits (i.e. citrus, mango, avocado, pineapple and papaya) are of economic, social and political significance to countries where they are grown worldwide. The inherent perishable nature of these fruits causes serious qualitative and quantitative yield losses at the postharvest phase. Types and magnitudes of postharvest losses are highly case-specific and vary significantly with the type of fruit, processing channel through which the produce fravels, infrastructural facilities available and the attitude of consumers towards the final quality of the produce. Among different types of losses, fiingal diseases at the postharvest stage contribute substantially to yield reductions of fi^iits as latent- and/or wound infections. Details of host-pathogen interactions involving Colletotrichum, which is a widely-established pathosystem causing latent infections, are discussed in this review. Even though application of synthetic fiingicides is the common practice for controllingpostharvest diseases at the commercial level, environmental and health hazards associated with them are well known. Hence, alternative non-chemical approaches are emerging rapidly. Potential use of physical, chemical, biological and genetic engineering methods, either solely or as combinations, have proved to be effective in controlling both wound- and latent infections when used as pre- or postharvest treatments. Limitations associated with individual methods could be mitigated by modification of application methods, improvement of formulations, management of the postharvest environment and manipulation of gene expression either in finiits or in biological control agents. Public perception towards microbial pesticides and potential to promote microbial pesticides for the control of postharvest diseases in the ftiture has also been discussed.