USE OF THE NATURAL PLANT-PRODUCTS, HINOKITIOL, TO EXTEND SHELF-LIFE OF PEACHES

Hinokitiol which is an extract of steam distillation of the root or trunk of Japanese cypress was tested as a control of postharvest decay pathogens of harvested peaches. The effective dose of hinokitiol that reduced fungal spore germination 50% (ED50) was 30.0, 14.7 and 18.1-mu-g/mL, respectively, for Botrytis cinerea, Monilinia fructicola and Rhizopus oryzae. Hinokitiol killed M. fructicola spores at 20-mu-g/mL and inhibited mycelial growth rate 50% when compared to growth on a medium free of hinokitiol at 14.6, 17.3 and 39.7-mu-g/mL for two isolates of M. fructicola and B. cinerea, respectively. Hinokitiol prevented decay of commercially harvested peaches in which 41.1% of the untreated fruit developed brown rot.