Abstract

Background and Objective: Flame seedless is the earliest ripening red seedless cultivar of table grapes cultivated in the Egyptian vineyards for both exportation and local market. This cultivar has the ability of exporting and marketing, but appears to be very susceptible fungal infection during postharvest handling. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of Aloe vera and grapefruit seed extracts (GSE extracts to control decay formation caused by grey mould (Botrytis cinerea), in vitro and in vivo during cold storage to enhancement the storability of flame seedless grape. Materials and Methods: For this, bunches of flame seedless grape were sprayed with aloe vera and grapefruit seed extracts before harvest. In addition to control gray mold and improvement fruit quality after harvest and during cold storage for 40 days at 0°C±1 with 90-95% R.H. Results: The results indicated that all natural extracts have demonstrated good results for inhibiting the growth of pathogens over untreated. Similarly, all extracts reduced physiological loss in weight, decay, berry shatter and rachis browning. All the extracts were able to retain postharvest quality of berries without any adverse effect on quality parameters such as TSS, total acidity and total sugar percentage. Overall, the uses of aloe vera and GSE are 2 promising examples of treatments that are beginning to be adopted on a commercial scale. Conclusion: Thus, it is evident from this study that, combination of aloe vera at 250 mL L–1 and grapefruit seed extracts (GSE) at 0.1% have the potential to control gray mold, caused by Botrytis cinerea without causing any injury or harmful effects on bunches. Organic extracts of aloe vera and grapefruit seed can be recommended as a safe method for maintaining berry quality as anthocyanin, pectin methyl esterase (PME) and total phenol and extending storage life at the same time.