TITLE	Effects of Cryptococcus laurentii (Kufferath) Skinner on biocontrol of postharvest decay of arbutus berries
AUTHOR	Xiaodong Zheng* College of Biosystem Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310029, P.R. China Hongyin Zhang College of Biosystem Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310029, P.R. China Yufang Xi College of Biosystem Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310029, P.R. China
FULL TEXT	[in HTML format] [in PDF format]
ABSTRACT	Cryptococcus laurentii was tested as a biocontrol agent for reducing natural decay of arbutus berries caused by Penicillium citrinum and Verticicladiella abielina in semi-commercial postharvest trials. Three different preparations of C. laurentii were compared for antagonistic efficiency. Washed C. laurentii cells provided better protection against decay than yeast cultured in broth without washing while the culture supernatant free of yeast cells provided no protection. The protection provided by the washed yeast cells was dose-dependent. Cryptococcus laurentii was also effective in controlling decay at low temperature (4°C). The efficacy of C. laurentii was enhanced by the addition of 2% CaCl2. Agar disks of C. laurentii NYDA cultures placed on PDA plates seeded with pathogens did not inhibit the growth of P. citrinum or V. abielina. Spore germination of the pathogens in potato dextrose broth was strongly inhibited in the presence of active cell suspensions.
KEYWORD	Arbutus berry; Biocontrol; CaCl2; Cryptococcus laurentii; Postharvest decay;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 45 Number 1 January 2004, page 55-60, 6 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China