New Approaches for Postharvest Disease Control in Europe

Alternative methods to fungicide treatments have been studied in order to prevent fruit losses in the postharvest phase. Within these methods the applications of: (a) biological control agents (BCAs), (b) plant bioactive compounds, and (c) physico-chemical methods showed interesting results but still far from a practical application in Europe. Actually, despite the substantial progress obtained with BCAs, any biofungicide has been registered in Europe to control postharvest pathogens, moreover because of their insufficient and inconsistent performance. The use of plant bioactive compounds has shown that the treatment conditions (concentration, form of application, formulation, exposure time, time of treatment, etc.) can deeply influence their efficacy. The different responses found in many studies indicate a cultivar specificity in the product-pathogen-volatile interaction. A barrier to use the plant bioactive compounds may not be efficacy, but rather the off-odours caused in fruits and vegetables and/or the phytotoxicity. Physico-chemical methods include heat, ionising and ultraviolet C irradiation, food additives inducers of resistance. Heat treatments by hot water dips, hot dry air, vapour heat or very short water rinse and brushing appear promising. To overcome the drawbacks that have arisen with the these methods, the integration of the antagonist with other treatments such as low toxic substances (GRAS), heat, etc. has been proposed; this strategy could produce an additive or synergistic effect on disease control and obtain satisfactory levels of disease reduction.