Effectiveness of postharvest treatment with chitosan and other resistance inducers in the control of storage decay of strawberry

This study compared the effectiveness of practical grade chitosan when used in solution with acetic, glutamic, formic and hydrochloric acids, and a water-soluble commercial chitosan formulation, in controlling postharvest diseases of strawberry. The commercial chitosan formulation and other resistance inducers based on benzothiadiazole, oligosaccharides, soybean lecithin, calcium and organic acids, and Abies sibirica and Urtica dioica extracts were also tested. The commercial chitosan formulation was as effective as the practical grade chitosan solutions in the control of gray mold and Rhizopus rot of strawberries immersed in these solutions and kept for 4 days at 20 ± 1 °C. Moreover, the treatment with commercial and experimental resistance inducers reduced gray mold, Rhizopus rot and blue mold of strawberries stored 7 days at 0 ± 1 °C and then exposed to 3 days shelf-life. The highest disease reduction was obtained with the commercial chitosan formulation, followed by benzothiadiazole, calcium and organic acids. The compounds that provided the best results in postharvest applications to control storage decay of strawberries, should be tested in further trials through preharvest treatments, applied at flowering and a few days before harvest.

► A commercial chitosan formulation controls decay in strawberries as well as chitosan dissolved in acids.
► Commercial chitosan formulation and benzothiadiazole showed the best strawberry decay control.
► Those compounds have potential for application in strawberry IPM strategies.