title: The effect of harpin on shelf life of peppers inoculated with Botrytis cinerea.
abstract: The preservation methods as an alternative to chemical control to prevent postharvest quality losses of peppers were examined. The efficacy of harpin treatments on peppers (Capsicum annuum L. cvs. 'Demre', 'Yalova Charleston' and 'Sari Sivri') was tested in the same conditions in two different years. Peppers grown in greenhouse were applied with four treatments consisting of harpin, Botrytis cinerea, harpin+B. cinerea and control. The harpin in B. cinerea treatments reduced the percentage of rotten fruit in cv. 'Demre' from 42.68% to 22.85%, in cv. 'Yalova Charleston' from 60.87% to 26.59% and in cv. 'Sari Sivri' from 32.83% to 12.82%. The harpin and harpin+B. cinerea peppers had a better overall appearance at the end of shelf-life. Changes in percentage of red fruit and fruit color at the end of shelf life proceeded more slowly in the harpin treated fruit. The treatments of harpin gave the best results in all three cultivars. Moreover, the values obtained from fruits subjected to harpin+B. cinerea were better than those of the fruits picked from the plants only subjected to B. cinerea. In the trials, harpin slowed down the changes leading to quality loss in fruits, in all cultivars. Thus, the positive effect of harpin was revealed more clearly especially in the fruits picked from the inoculated plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Uludag University, 16059 Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Himmet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tezcan
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Uludag University, 16059 Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nuray
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akbudak
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Uludag University, 16059 Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Akbudak
keywords: Capsicum annuum L; Colour; Gray mold; Messenger; Quality; Shelf life