BIOCONTROL OF POSTHARVEST FUNGAL DISEASES ON DUTCH WHITE CABBAGE BY PSEUDOMONAS AND SERRATIA ANTAGONISTS IN STORAGE TRIALS

Post-harvest rotting of Dutch white cabbage was reduced by post-harvest treatment with Pseudomonas fluorescens strains CL42, CL66, CL82, Serratia plymuthica strain CL43 or Serratia liquefaciens CL80, in three storage trials carried out in an experimental cold store at Manchester University, Manchester, UK and in a commercial cold store at L.W. van Geest Farms Ltd, Spalding, UK. The amount of surface area covered by fungal growth was assessed at 6-week intervals during storage and the trimming losses were determined after 8 to 10 months. Only strains CL80 and CL82 were found to reduce fungal spoilage significantly in all three trials, and control by strain CL82 was similar to that achieved by postharvest treatment with fungicides. In the commercial cold store, CL42 showed better results than any of the other bacterial strains.