Identification and biological control of postharvest diseases of peach

Peaches are very appreciated by consumers as fresh fruit because of their qualitative and technological characteristics: the finesse of the pulp, their specific flavour, the high sugar content, their acidity, as well as other useful substances for the organism. Unfortunately, these fruits are extremely perishable, displaying a high degree of sensitivity to manipulation and transport and a short period of storage and maintenance of their post-harvest commercial qualities. During the period between harvest and consumption, major fruit losses may be recorded, according to: cultivar sensitivity, ecological conditions, harvesting maturity, pre-harvest treatments and so on. An important cause for these losses is represented by the attack of certain postharvest pathogen agents. Therefore, the purpose of the research carried out within this paper is to identify the species of pathogen agents which develop on the fruit after the harvesting, as well as the means to fight their attack, in order to prolong the consumption period of the fruit as fresh. The studied material consisted in samples of fruit belonging to the Southland cultivar. These were harvested immediately upon reaching maturity, after which they were stored at room temperature at 20-25°C for 4 days, and for the next 30 days at 2-4°C. Research have highlighted the fact that the main diseases involved in postharvest losses, as concerns peach trees, are results of the following pathogen agents: Monilinia laxa, M. fructigena (brown rot) and Botrytis cinerea (grey rot). Of reduced importance are the following species: Rhizopus stolonifer (Rhizopus rot), Penicillium expansum (blue rot) Mucor piriformis (Mucor rot) and Geotrichum candidum (sour rot). In order to control these agents, highly effective is the applying of certain postharvest antagonists, using the different microorganisms.