Post harvest behavior of strawberry fruits after pre harvest treatment with chitosan and acibenzolar-S-methyl

The use of inductors of resistance in plants represents an alternative and a promising method to control fruit rots at post harvest. The experiment was carried out at Federal Technological University of Parana - Dois Vizinhos - Campus, during 2004 with the objective to evaluate the induction of chitosan resistance and acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) on strawberry plants. The treatments compared the effect of chitosan (0.5; 1.0 and 2.0%) and ASM (0.0025%) in relation to control plants (distilled water only) and those with fungicides application. The chitosan treatment in all three evaluated concentrations, delayed the fruit maturation, increased the flesh firmness and titratable acidity and decreased the mass loss. It was also observed reduction in the ethylene production and in the reduced sugars and increased the total polyphenol in strawberry fruits. The chitosan treatment in all three evaluated concentrations induced greater plant resistance to diseases with effect on the reduction of the fruit rots in the post harvest by Botrytis cindered. Although, chitosan treatment in the concentration of 2% caused damage to the fruits in the post harvest increased the respiration rate and the reduced sugar. The ASM had effect on the retention of the titratable acidity and acted efficiently on the rot reduction similar to the treatment with fungicides. The application of chitosan and ASM pre-harvest did not interfere in the organoleptic quality of the fruits in the post harvest.