<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>A reduction in crop spoilage and an increase in shelf-life is the goal of effective disease control methods. This study aimed to assess ZnO-nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) as a safe, new protectant against <italic>Rhizopus</italic> soft rot of sweet potato. ZnO-NPs had a fungicidal effect against <italic>Rhizopus stolonifer</italic> when used at concentrations above 50 ppm. The results showed that tubers treated with ZnO-NPs exhibited fewer fungal populations (1.2 CFU per segment) than those that did not receive the treatment. Tubers infected with <italic>Rhizopus stolonifer</italic> and treated with ZnO-NPs showed no visible decay for up to 15 days, indicating that ZnO-NPs act as a coating layer on tuber surface. The greatest weight loss after 15 days of storage was reported in infected tubers (8.98%), followed by infected tubers treated with ZnO (6.54%) and infected tubers treated with ZnO-NPs (3.79%). The activity of cell-wall degrading enzymes, α-amylase and cellulase, were significantly increased in both infected tubers and those treated with ZnO, compared to the tubers treated with ZnO-NPs. These results confirm that coating with ZnO-NPs is an effective method of protecting sweet potato tubers from infection, maintaining their quality and increasing their shelf-life for up to 2 months in storage.</p></abstract>

A reduction in crop spoilage and an increase in shelf-life is the goal of effective disease control methods. This study aimed to assess ZnO-nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) as a safe, new protectant against Rhizopus soft rot of sweet potato. ZnO-NPs had a fungicidal effect against Rhizopus stolonifer when used at concentrations above 50 ppm. The results showed that tubers treated with ZnO-NPs exhibited fewer fungal populations (1.2 CFU per segment) than those that did not receive the treatment. Tubers infected with Rhizopus stolonifer and treated with ZnO-NPs showed no visible decay for up to 15 days, indicating that ZnO-NPs act as a coating layer on tuber surface. The greatest weight loss after 15 days of storage was reported in infected tubers (8.98%), followed by infected tubers treated with ZnO (6.54%) and infected tubers treated with ZnO-NPs (3.79%). The activity of cell-wall degrading enzymes, α-amylase and cellulase, were significantly increased in both infected tubers and those treated with ZnO, compared to the tubers treated with ZnO-NPs. These results confirm that coating with ZnO-NPs is an effective method of protecting sweet potato tubers from infection, maintaining their quality and increasing their shelf-life for up to 2 months in storage.

Application of ZnO-nanoparticles to manage <italic>Rhizopus</italic> soft rot of sweet potato and prolong shelf-life

Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science

Prince Sultan Ben Abdulaziz Center for Environmental and Tourism Research and Studies

Plant Pathology Department, Faculty of Agriculture

Department of Arid Land Agriculture, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture

Folia Horticulturae

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Application of ZnO-nanoparticles to manage  soft rot of sweet potato and prolong shelf-life

A reduction in crop spoilage and an increase in shelf-life is the goal of effective disease control methods. This study aimed to assess ZnO-nanoparticles...

Application of ZnO-nanoparticles to manage Rhizopus soft rot of sweet potato and prolong shelf-life

Publicado en línea: 26 dic 2019

Páginas: 319 - 329

Recibido: 14 mar 2019

Aceptado: 01 ago 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fhort-2019-0025

Palabras clave
edible coating, soft rot, shelf-life, sweet potato, ZnO-nanoparticles

© 2019 Nivien A. Nafady et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Application of ZnO-nanoparticles to manage Rhizopus soft rot of sweet potato and prolong shelf-life

Publicado en línea: 26 dic 2019

Páginas: 319 - 329

Recibido: 14 mar 2019

Aceptado: 01 ago 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fhort-2019-0025

Palabras claveedible coating, soft rot, shelf-life, sweet potato, ZnO-nanoparticles

© 2019 Nivien A. Nafady et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Palabras clave
edible coating, soft rot, shelf-life, sweet potato, ZnO-nanoparticles