EXTRACTS OF WILD GRAPEVINE (Vitis SPP.) LEAVES REDUCE Botrytis cinerea INFECTION DURING STRAWBERRY (Fragaria × ananasa DUCH.) FRUITS POSTHARVEST

Abstract

Worldwide, eco-friendly and innocuous techniques to reduce postharvest strawberry fruit decay are being developed. Vitis plants had polyphenols presenting fungistatic activity. Strawberry fruits were dipped for 3 min in Vitis leaves solution (7.2% w/v) of 3 accessions: resveratrol and gallic acid, 0.450 g L-1 each, and distilled water. Then, fruits were inoculated with 1 × 106 Botrytis cinerea conidia and stored (19 °C/70% RH). Five days after inoculation (DAI), 75% of control fruits presented rotted peel with velvety gray mold; the other treatments showed between 14 and 30% of infection. With eight DAI, berries treated with Vitis extracts and gallic acid lost 2 N of firmness, while resveratrol treated berries lost less than 1 N. In contrast, control fruit lost 2.5 N in only five DAI. Extracts of Mexican wild grapevine leaves have the potential for reducing the infection and symptoms of Botrytis cinerea in strawberry fruits.