Abstract

Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea is the most important disease affecting table grape in Chile and elsewhere. Serious damages are acquired when climatic conditions are favorable for disease development representing a challenge for integrated and organic management. So the aim of this work was to development a biological product with antimicrobial activity against gray mold. Different assays were performed employing Red Globe table-grape fruits. Two bio control microorganisms (BCM) were evaluated: bacteria Gluconobacter cerinus and yeast Hanseniaspora hosmophila. BCM were tested on grapes for preventive control, separately and in mixture at two different concentrations (high and low) against gray mold. First, fruit was treated with both BCM and inoculated with B. cinerea 24 hours later. The evaluation was 4 and 15 days post inoculation. Data were analyzed using Minitab® and means were separated employing Tukey test (p <0.05). G. cerinus and H. osmophila were effectively against B. cinerea isolates by themselves, but a synergism was observed when both microorganisms were employed, and in all cases a significant inhibition of gray mold was obtained. Nevertheless, G. cerinus had a greater control effect compared with H. osmophila. Moreover, the persistence of biocontrol of B. cinerea was observed 15 days post inoculation. Finally, no statistical differences between the high and low concentration of microorganisms evaluated was observed. A patent for these biocontrol strategy was requested to INAPI (Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial, Chile) in November 27 of 2015, registration number 3236860. Currently we are working to development a co