Innovative Strategies for Postharvest Disease Management in Fruits and Vegetables: A Comprehensive Treatise

Abstract

Postharvest diseases, driven by necrotrophic fungi such as Botrytis cinerea, Penicillium digitatum, and Rhizopus stolonifer, pose a significant threat to global fruit and vegetable supply chains, resulting in annual losses of 20%-40% and economic impacts exceeding $10 billion. This review critically evaluates innovative, sustainable strategies for biological control, nanotechnology, edible coatings, and plant growth regulators (PGRs) to mitigate these losses, emphasizing their mechanisms and efficacy. Biological agents like Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Pseudomonas fluorescens reduce disease incidence by 60%-85% through volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nutrient competition. In comparison, selenium-chitosan nanoparticles (Se-ChNPs) achieve a 92% inhibition of B. cinerea in grapes via ROS induction and cell wall disruption. Chitosan and alginate-based edible coatings prevent decay by creating physical barriers and increasing host enzymes: SOD by 68%; PGRs SA and MT trigger enhanced PAL and PR genes and reduce the disease by 55%-80%. Integration augments all these effects, and Se-ChNPs and cold storage give a synergy ratio of 76%-94% because of multiple target suppression and host defense potentiation. However, there are some limitations which are as follows: During the use of Se-ChNPs, cost plays a critical role; specifically for the efficacy of Se-ChNPs, they work well on grapes only; in terms of regulation of residues, they do not have the proper regulation for the nanoparticles; but to balance all these critical issues, biosensors and protocols should be used for the crops. This process critically compares the different strategies, reviews their successes and faults for each crop, looks into contrasting findings, and highlights major areas that need further study, such as applying them to vegetables and dealing with regulations. Priorities for future research include developing low-cost solutions and testing a wide range of crops to improve the sustainability of postharvest management and meet the demands of the global food supply.

Keywords: biological control; edible coatings; nanotechnology; postharvest diseases.

FIGURE 1

Classification of traditional and innovative strategies used in postharvest disease management. Adapted from concepts in Romanazzi et al. (2018) and Sivakumar et al. (2016).

FIGURE 2

Mechanisms of edible coatings on a grape for postharvest disease control. The diagram illustrates a 3D cross‐sectional view of a grape coated with chitosan, showing the barrier effect by blocking Penicillium spores and the antimicrobial action. Inspired by Bautista‐Baños et al. (2006) and Wang, Li, et al. (2021).

FIGURE 3

Synergistic mechanisms of integrated postharvest disease management. The diagram illustrates the combined effects of (A) selenium‐chitosan nanoparticles (Se‐ChNPs) with cold storage and (B) Bacillus amyloliquefaciens with chitosan coatings on Botrytis cinerea. Adapted from concepts in Li et al. (2021) and Chen et al. (2019).