ABSTRACT
The need to reduce chemical residues in fruit marketed within a country or exported has been a major issue that is a challenge in many of the countries growing and selling the majority of marketed produce. One of the major alternative control approaches replacing the use of chemical fungicides has been the use of microbial antagonists. These antagonists can be applied to harvested produce as biocontrol agents to inhibit a variety of postharvest pathogens. Bacterial and yeast antagonists have been isolated from fruit and other plant surfaces and demonstrated to exhibit relatively high levels of efficacy in lab and pilot tests conducted under semi-commercial conditions. This chapter presents an overview of the various aspects of using microbial antagonists as postharvest biocontrol agents, including the procedures used to identify potential antagonists, what is known about the various mechanisms that contribute to biocontrol activity, the influence of environmental parameters on the growth and fitness of a biocontrol agent, mass production and formulation technologies, the various parameters associated with the commercialization and use of postharvest biocontrol products, and the integration of the use of antagonists with other alternative approaches.
