Postharvest application of Prohexadione-Ca and calcium chloride for improving storability and controlling mold disease of strawberry fruits

Strawberry fruits are highly perishable, with postharvest losses often attributed to mold diseases such as Botrytis cinerea, and physiological deterioration leading to reduced shelf life. Various postharvest treatments have been explored to mitigate these challenges, with particular attention to the application of Prohexadione-Ca (Pro-Ca) and calcium chloride (CaCl?). This review critically examines the potential of these compounds to enhance strawberry storability and control mold-related spoilage. Prohexadione-Ca, a plant growth regulator known for modulating plant growth and inducing disease resistance, has shown promise in reducing mold incidence when applied postharvest. Calcium chloride, widely used to improve fruit firmness and structural integrity, complements Pro-Ca by enhancing cell wall stability and reducing fruit susceptibility to physical damage and microbial invasion. The synergistic effects of Pro-Ca and CaCl? on fruit physiology, including the modulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), maintenance of membrane integrity, and calcium-mediated improvements in firmness, are discussed. Moreover, the review highlights the mechanisms by which these treatments can reduce mold proliferation and extend storage life, offering insights into their practical applications in the strawberry supply chain. This comprehensive review provides a basis for future research and offers strategies for integrating Pro-Ca and CaCl? into postharvest handling protocols to reduce losses and improve strawberry quality during storage. This version is more appropriate for a review article, focusing on summarizing existing knowledge and discussing potential applications

In vitro and in vivo antifungal activity of microalgal treatments against Alternaria brassicicola

Commercial preparations of three algal species (Arthrospira platensis, Chlorella vulgaris, and C. pyrenoidosa) were evaluated according to in vitro (paper disc method), and in vivo (seed, foliar, seed+foliar treatments) assays to determine the antifungal activity against Alternia brassicicola. For in vitro assays, the extracts of A. platensis, C. pyrenoidosa, and C. vulgaris showed the highest antifungal activity, inhibiting the growth of A. brassicicola at a concentration of 50 mg/ml with inhibition zones of 4.9, 4.2, and 3.9 cm, respectively. For in vivo assays, the microalgal suspensions were observed to have remarkable antifungal activity at increasing concentrations against A. brassicicola compared with control treatments. Particularly, the seed+foliar treatment of a mixture of the microalgal suspension (A. platensis+ C.vulgaris+ C. pyrenoidosa) at a concentration of 15 g/l demonstrated the highest antifungal activity with an inhibition rate above 98% in cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and mustard (Brassica juncea). The present study confirmed that the microalgae treatments had a significant potential, as an applicable and eco-friendly tool against A. brassicicola, to reduce exposure and risks of chemical pesticides

Morpho-molecular identification and management of Erysiphe heraclei causing dill powdery mildew using a biocide, essential oils, and organic acids

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Bio-Cure F, essential oils of thyme and clove, ascorbic and salicylic acids in controlling dill powdery mildew under greenhouse conditions. The causal pathogen of powdery mildew was isolated from infected dill plants showing symptoms of the disease during a survey in Fayoum governorate, Egypt, in 2022. Erysiphe heraclei was morphologically characterized using a light microscope as the causal pathogen of powdery mildew in infected dill plants. The nucleotide sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the causal pathogen DNA was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. OP999071.1), which showed 98-100% similarity with accession numbers of E. heraclei isolates obtained from the NCBI database. Under greenhouse conditions, dill plants were sprayed with biocide (Bio-Cure F), elicitors (ascorbic and salicylic acids), and essential oil emulsions of clove and thyme three times after inoculation with E. heraclei. The results showed that Bio-Cure F was the treatment that showed the highest efficacy in reducing both disease severity and incidence percentage, followed by thyme essential oil. The highest percentages of increase in dill plant height (cm) as well as branches/plant were obtained by Bio-Cure F treatment compared to the control, followed by salicylic acid treatment. The results suggest that Bio-Cure F, salicylic acid, and thyme oil emulsion could be used to control dill powdery mildew

The influence of certain eco-friendly treatments on the barley powdery mildew disease under the impact of climate change

This investigation's goal is to assess the effectiveness of eco-friendly treatments, i.e., biocide Blight stop, three natural oil extracts: black seeds, thyme and eucalyptus oils, as well as fungicide Opus 12.5% Sc in reducing powdery mildew infection on susceptible Egyptian barley varieties. These treatments were carried out under greenhouse and field experiments conducted at Giza Experimental Station, Agricultural Research Centre (ARC), during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 growing seasons. All eco-friendly treatments and fungicide reduced disease severity percentage, area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) and average coefficient of infection (ACI) compared to the control treatment in the two seasons, in addition to increasing yield, total chlorophyll and carotenoids compared to the control treatment. Spraying fungicide Opus provided the most effective treatments, followed by biocide-Blight stop. On the other hand, thyme oil was recorded as having the least effectiveness in comparison to the control treatment during both seasons

Arthropod fauna and rats in organic sugarcane in Tahiti

As organic sugarcane is promised to an important development in French Polynesia thank to the high-quality rum produced in this part of the world, preliminary studies on main biotic constraints were conducted on this crop between 2018 and 2021 to better apprehend their control. Visual observations at regular intervals and captures using different types of traps were carried out to collect and identify the arthropod fauna in Tahiti Island. With no surprise, stemborer insects were the most important pests of sugarcane in these different areas. We were also able to identify key predators and parasitoids that are important to preserve for natural control of these pests. Stem borers and rats are a big concern in most islands and like the other pests, we make propositions here to implement some tactics of agroecological crop protection

Management of Phytoplasma associated with sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) in Assiut governorate, Egypt

Phytoplasma associated with sesame can cause serious economic losses in sesame production in Assiut governorate, Upper Egypt. Various primary symptoms indicating phyllody disease were noted, including proliferation (witches’ broom), yellowing, and the transformation of capsules into flowers, resulting in a significant decrease in sesame yield. Phyllody symptomatology and incidence were studied in three sesame varieties (Giza 32, Shandawel 3, and Sohag 1). Four irradiation treatments It was irradiated using Cobalt 60 at different doses (150, 200, 250, and 300 Gy of gamma rays). Data showed that Shandawel 3 was categorized as a moderately resistant cultivar, while Sohag 1 was grouped as resistant and Gize 32 was categorized as moderately susceptible. This study also revealed that all irradiation treatments (150, 200, 250, and 300 Gy) reduced the percentage of infected rate and disease severity caused by phytoplasma. The study recommends that using resistant varieties is an efficient and sustainable approach to controlling susceptibility to phytoplasmas in sesame

Chia charcoal rot disease and its management using certain bio-agents in Egypt

The current study was performed to control the charcoal stem rot disease caused by Macrophomina phaseolina in chia plants (Salvia hispanica L.). Macrophomina phaseolina was morphologically identified as the causal pathogen of charcoal stem rot on naturally infected chia plants showing typical symptoms of disease and obtained from Fayoum, Giza, and Menoufia governorates, Egypt in the 2021 cultivation season. Additionally, the molecular characterization of the causal pathogen revealed 99.65-100% identity with several isolates of the same species. The isolates obtained from all governorates under study resulted in pre- and post-emergence damping-off with significant variations. However, M. phaseolina isolated from Fayoum governorate recorded the highest percentage of charcoal stem rot. Moreover, the filtrate of the same isolate caused the highest percentages of wilted seedlings. The presence of yeast, amonium chloride and urea as nitrogen sources resulted in the loss of M. phaseolina mycelial color. The pigmented isolate of M. phaseolina (Fayoum isolate) exhibited a high virulence to chia plants in greenhouse compared to the non-pigmented one. The two bio-agents; Trichoderma asperellum and Streptomyces rochei, isolated from the rhizosphere soil of healthy chia plants, significantly inhibited M. phaseolina fungal growth in comparison with the control in vitro. In greenhouse experiment, the fungicide Tricyclazole was the most efficient application for reducing the incidence of disease as well as increasing the plant growth measurements, i.e., number of spikes per plant, number of branches and plant height, followed by the biocide New-Actino. The combined use of the bio-agents T. asperellum and S. rochei was greatly efficient in both decreasing the disease incidence and improving the plant growth parameters compared to individual use of each. The current study indicated the potential use of the biocide New-Actino, T. asperellum and S. rochei as fungicidal alternatives for controlling chia charcoal rot disease

Comparison between two methods of mycelia growth evaluation of some Oomycetes species

Oomycetes pathogens causes devastating crop diseases worldwide. In this study, we compared mycelium growth of 7 Oomycetes species using the calculated area (CA) method obtained by perpendicular diameter of colony and measured area (MA) method. Results revealed a significant difference between Oomycetes species inhibition ratio using CA and MA, at lower mefenoxam concentrations. The interval of variation between MA/CA methods was variable according to Oomycetes specie. The largest interval (0.01-1000 ?g/ml) was detected with Pythium aphanidermatum and Phytopythium mercuriale. The second interval (0.01-100 ?g/ml) was determined by Phytophthora cryptogea, P. aphanidermatum, P. ultimum and P. mercuriale. An interval ranged from 0.01?g/ml to 31.6?g/ml was recorded with P. cryptogea and Phytopythium vexans. An interval from 0.01 ?g/ml to 10?g/ml was determined with Pythium dissotocum and P. vexans; while the shortest interval (0.01-1?g/ml) was noted with P. nicotianae. In addition, present findings recorded a difference in Pearson’s correlation index between growth factors (medium, evaluation dates, mefenoxam concentration) and Oomycetes mycelium growth using MA and CA methods. A statistical significance difference (P<0.05), weas noted more in case MA method and was more expressed in case of CA method

Evaluation of some safe alternative agents against the pink stem borer, Sesamia cretica Lederer infesting sugarcane at Sohag governorate, Egypt

Some different control methods, mechanical, biological and four plant extracts were tested individually against the pink stem borer, Sesamia critica Lederer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in both plant and ratoon crops of sugarcane during 2018 and 2019 at Sohag governorate, Egypt. Data were recorded on the basis of the percent infestation (dead hearts) of S. critica from April to June, while the infestation reduction percentage and population density were recorded based on the percent of infestation. The results showed that, all the control methods significantly reduced borer infestation as compared with control plots. Data demonstrated that water extracts of marjoram and rosemary achieved the lowest infestation (2.18 - 3.02%) and (1.42 – 2.00%), while the highest infestation was recorded in biological control treatment (18.00 – 13.47%) in two seasons 2018 and 2019 respectively. These results could be used in integrated pest management (IPM) programs for the pink stem borer, Sesamia critica control in sugarcane

Effect of some biofertilizers and biofungicides applications on control onion root-rot disease

Five biofertilizers and biofungicides namely, (Cerialien, Biogen, Nitrobein, Phosphoren and Potassiumag) and (Rhizo-N, Bio-Arc, Plant-guard, Biozied and T-34) were used to evaluate their ability to protect onion plants (Giza 6 Mohassan var.) against root rot diseases, which mainly caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cepae causing Fusarium basal rot, Pyrenochaeta terrestris causing pink root rot and Sclerotium cepivorum  causing white rot disease as well as improving growth and yield of onion under greenhouse conditions during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 growing seasons. Data clearly showed that the tested biofungicides decreased the disease severity of onion bulb root rot as compared with the check treatment. The treated soil with different biofungicides significantly decreased the disease severity of onion  root rot diseases compared with the control. T-34 biocontrol at the rate of 2 and 3 g/kg soil was the most effective biofungicide in minimizing disease severity caused with the tested fungi followed by Biozied and Rhizo-N at the same concentrations during 2019/2020growing seasons. Also, Treated transplants with commercial biofertilizers i.e. Cerialien, Biogen, Nitrobein, Phosphoren and Potassiumag at 3 g/Kg soil and planted in infested soil with tested pathogenic fungi caused the highest reduction of the tested pathogenic fungi under greenhouse. As mean treated transplants with Nitrobein gave the greatest reduction of root rot diseases caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. cepae, P. terrestris and S. cepivorum, when used under greenhouse conditions during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 growing seasons. Moreover, all these treatments significantly increased growth parameters i.e. fresh bulb weight, dry bulb weight and bulb diameter as compared with the check treatment