Abstract:

The purposes of the present study were to investigate the effect of the combined treatment with calcium chloride
and the antagonistic yeast Meyerozyma guilliermondii for control of postharvest athracnose caused by Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides on mango fruit and to analyze the effect of CaCl2 on the growth of the pathogen and yeast as well as the disease
resistance. The results indicated that the biocontrol activity of M. guilliermondii at 1 × 108 CFU/mL on anthracnose decay
was enhanced by combination with 40 g/L CaCl2 treatment. The combined treatment with M. guilliermondii and 40 g/L CaCl2
resulted in a remarkably improved control of the disease in comparison with the treatment with M. guilliermondii or 40 g/L
CaCl2 alone. In addition, 40 g/L CaCl2 inhibited mycelial growth of pathogens and enhanced the population of M. guilliermondii
in the wounds of mango fruits. Meanwhile, the combined treatment induced higher defense-related enzymes activities than
either alone. Thus, these results suggested that 40 g/L CaCl2 could improve the biocontrol activity of M. guilliermondii on the
control of postharvest athracnose decay caused by C. gloeosporioides in mango fruit, directly by inhibiting mycelial growth of
pathogens and increasing population size of antagonist and indirectly by enhancing disease resistance.

Key words: mango, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, calcium chloride, Meyerozyma guilliermondii, biocontrol, enzyme activity