Articles
Ozone protection against fungal diseases during storage: a new alternative?
Article number
1458_54
Pages
407 – 412
Language
English
Abstract
Botrytis cinerea, Phytophthora spp., and Neofabraea alba cause damage to apples.
Their control is mainly managed with fungicides, but their use raises environmental and social concerns.
Ozone could be an interesting alternative to fungicides to reduce fungal pressure.
Indeed, this strong oxidant is well known for its disinfectant capacity and is characterized by low environmental persistence compared to conventional fungicides.
Biocidal activity has already been demonstrated against a large number of microorganisms and across numerous applications.
This study focuses on the use of ozone gas during apple storage.
Apples (3500/modality) were stored in ozone storage rooms for 1 to 6 months, as per the tests.
Three ozone gas modalities were continuously applied: no ozone gas (control modality), low-dose ozone gas, and high-dose ozone gas.
Visual counting and microbiological analyses were realized.
Two different apple cultivars were tested.
Three campaigns were carried out.
Ozone treatment leads to a significant reduction in the number of apples affected by Phytophthora (until 67%). Microbiological analyses attested these results.
Physical-chemical analyses presented no difference.
Thus, the strong fungicide properties of ozone treatment and the absence of remanence make ozone a promising candidate for limiting fungal development and the use of conventional fungicides.
Their control is mainly managed with fungicides, but their use raises environmental and social concerns.
Ozone could be an interesting alternative to fungicides to reduce fungal pressure.
Indeed, this strong oxidant is well known for its disinfectant capacity and is characterized by low environmental persistence compared to conventional fungicides.
Biocidal activity has already been demonstrated against a large number of microorganisms and across numerous applications.
This study focuses on the use of ozone gas during apple storage.
Apples (3500/modality) were stored in ozone storage rooms for 1 to 6 months, as per the tests.
Three ozone gas modalities were continuously applied: no ozone gas (control modality), low-dose ozone gas, and high-dose ozone gas.
Visual counting and microbiological analyses were realized.
Two different apple cultivars were tested.
Three campaigns were carried out.
Ozone treatment leads to a significant reduction in the number of apples affected by Phytophthora (until 67%). Microbiological analyses attested these results.
Physical-chemical analyses presented no difference.
Thus, the strong fungicide properties of ozone treatment and the absence of remanence make ozone a promising candidate for limiting fungal development and the use of conventional fungicides.
Authors
M. Pages, C. Berger, S. Maldes, D. Kleiber, F. Violleau
Keywords
ozone, fungicide, apples, scale up
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