African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (11), pp. 1289-1292, 4 June 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of benzimidazole fungicides and calcium chloride on Alternaria alternata and Penicillium expansum rot during storage of pears

Abdelfettah Maouni¹, Ahmed Lamarti², Anouar Aidoun¹, Mustapha Khaddor¹ and Alain Badoc³

¹Département de Sciences Naturelles, École Normale Supérieure, BP 202, 93150 Martil, Morocco.

2Département de Biologie, Unité de Biotechnologie et d’Amélioration des plantes, Faculté des Sciences M’hannech II, BP 212, 93002 Tétouan, Morocco.

³Laboratoire de Mycologie et Biotechnologie végétale, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, 146, rue Léo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: lamarti.ahmed@menara.ma. Phone: (212) 39960569. Fax: (212) 39994500.

Accepted 25 January, 2007

The present study assayed the effect of the fungicides benomyl, methyl-thiophanate, thiabendazole and calcium chloride on fungal decay of pears caused by Alternaria alternata and Penicillium expansum. Both in vitro and in vivo, the efficacy of fungicides alone against the two fungi was shown to be weak and without any practical interest. In vitro, CaCl₂ alone was tolerated by both species at more than 4%. In vivo and at low temperature, CaCl₂ significantly reduced fungal decay when used at 4 and 6%. The association fungicides - CaCl₂ (4%) allowed a better control of A. alternata.

Key words: Pears, conservation, fungi, calcium chloride, fungicides.