Antifungal activity of chitosan-plant extract-based coating for crown rot disease in banana (cv. Embul)

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2024

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Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka

Abstract

Proper postharvest handling is essential to reduce postharvest losses and maintain the quality of fresh produce. Banana crown rot, which is caused mainly by Colletotrichum musae and Fusarium poliferatum is one of the most economically significant diseases affecting banana fruits. It impacts both the yield and marketability of bananas. Fungal infection occurs through the cut surface of crown tissues of dehanded banana. Symptom development initiates as a blackening of crown tissues which later advances down the fruit stalks. Fungal control methods often rely on synthetic fungicides and may cause environmental and health concerns due to their toxicity. Thus, this study was planned to develop an eco-friendly alternative to chemical fungicides to control banana crown rot disease. This research investigated the potential of soursop (Annona muricata) pulp extract in combination with chitosan as a natural antifungal coating to inhibit the growth of C. musae and F. poliferatum in banana (cv. Embul). In the initial stages of the study, soursop pulp oil was extracted using a Soxhlet apparatus. The solvent was evaporated using a rotary evaporator and freeze-dried. Fruit coating was prepared using chitosan, glycerol, Tween 80 and soursop pulp. A range of pulp oil concentrations were tested including 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10% combined with chitosan (1%). The food poisoning technique was used to test the antifungal activity of the fruit coating using One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s pair-wise comparison tests. Mancozeb was used as positive control and DMSO was used as negative control for antifungal assay. A significant difference in antifungal activity was observed among several concentrations of peel and pulp coating solutions (p < 0.05). For In vivo application C. musae inoculated Embul banana were treated with pulp coating, fungicide and distilled water as control. The impact of the treatments was assessed by measuring the percentage weight loss, fruit firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and pH values. Complete inhibition of the pathogen (in vitro) was observed at both pulp and peel extract concentrations of 7.5% and above for both fungal species. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for C. musae and F. poliferatum was considered to be 7.5%. The minimum lethal concentration (MLC) was 10%, at which no mycelial growth was noted in the growth revival test. In vivo, pulp extract coating showed significant inhibition of C. musae compared to the control. Kruskal – Wallis test showed a statistically significant difference in disease severity among the treatment groups (H = 6.77, p = 0.034) with the coating applied group showing lowest disease severity. Previous research findings revealed that chitosan possesses antifungal activity. The combined antifungal efficacy of chitosan and A. muricata extracts inhibits fungal growth and these findings suggest that the developed fruit coating has the potential to be an effective strategy for mitigating crown rot in bananas caused by C. musae and F. poliferatum.

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Keywords

Annona, Banana, Colletotrichum, Crown rot, Fusarium

Citation

Piyumali W. M. D. T.; Gunaratna A. G. M. J.; Kodituwakku T. D. (2024), Antifungal activity of chitosan-plant extract-based coating for crown rot disease in banana (cv. Embul), Proceedings of the International Conference on Applied and Pure Sciences (ICAPS 2024-Kelaniya) Volume 4, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka. Page 52

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