Argentina is the leading exporter of limes and, according to data from the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI), Tucumán contributes 84% of the total and grows them in an area of 34,000 hectares.
Given this, a group of researchers from the Faculty of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy, who also work at the Pilot Microbiological Process Plant (PROIMI), are developing a line of work aimed at finding alternatives for the biological control of post-harvest diseases affecting limes.
Biochemists and doctors in Biology, Julián Dib and Veronica Fernández Zenoff (director and co-director of the thesis, respectively) in collaboration with Luciana Contreras, a student of Biotechnology, are studying an alternative to treat the limes affected by fungal diseases.
The researchers said the most common and severe diseases in citrus postharvest were the green and blue moulds, caused by Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum, respectively, entering the fruit through wounds produced on its surface. Citrus are affected to a lesser extent by Phomopsis citri, which causes the stems to rot.
Contreras said the work consisted in isolating citrus yeasts of limes, oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines plants in Tucumán, which hadn't been treated with fungicides. "In the first stage, we performed in vitro tests in the laboratory, facing the so called killer yeasts against pathogenic fungi in the plates and had good results," said the researcher.
These yeasts are called killer because they can kill fungi or pathogens present in the fruit. She added that the tests were then performed live. "We inoculated fruits with yeast to see what in vitro results would work outside," she added.
Source: Lagaceta.