Author(s):

M Nandhini, S Harish, A Beaulah and K Eraivan Arutkani Aiyanathan

Abstract: Post-harvest losses due to plant pathogens is a major problem in grapes which causes huge economic losses to the farmers in terms of quality and quantity. Yeast are unicellular organisms which exist on the fructosphere of crops and protects the plant from pathogens. In this study, yeast species has been exploited against Rhizopus sp. infecting grapes during the post-harvest stage. Thirty-three epiphytic yeasts on the surface of grapes were isolated from Madurai and Erode districts of Tamil Nadu and tested against Rhizopus sp. The results revealed that the yeast isolate, YCSL2 exhibited maximum inhibitory effect of 30.33% and 24.44% in dual culture and volatile compounds assay respectively over the control under in vitro. Similarly, wound site colonization of yeast against Rhizopus sp. recorded maximum inhibitory effect of 71.11% against the control under in vivo. Thus, the yeast species identified in this study can be used for the biological management of post-harvest pathogens in grapes.

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