Control of blue mold disease and natural decay of postharvest peaches by hot water treatment

In search for an alternative to synthetic fungicides for the control of postharvest decay of peach fruits, the control efficacy of hot water treatment on blue mold disease of postharvest peaches, its effects on storage quality of fruits and spore germination of Penicillium expansum were investigated. Based on the experiments of hot water treatment of different temperatures and time to the control of blue mold disease of peach, treatment temperature of 54℃ and 2 min of hot water treatment were applied to peaches. Afterwards, fruits were stored at 20℃ for 7 days or at 4℃ for 30 days followed by 20℃ for 7 days, the percentage of infected fruits was recorded，and the quality parameters of peaches were measured. It was found that hot water treatment was effective in control of postharvest diseases of peaches. Hot water treatment did not impair quality parameters of fruit, including weight loss, firmness, Total Soluble Solids(TSS) content, ascorbic acid content and titratable acidity concentration. Spore germination of P. expansum in Potato-Dextrose Broth medium(PDB) was inhibited by hot water treatment. Therefore, the hot water treatment of 54℃ for 2min was an alternative to synthetic fungicides for the control of postharvest blue mold decay of peach fruits.