ศูนย์นวัตกรรมเทคโนโลยีหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว

The majority of fungi gain access to plant cells by breaking the cell wall barrier and secreting enzymes able to degrade cell wallpolymers. Cell wall enzymes (polygalacturonase–PG, protease, pectin lyase, etc.) area wide group which mainly catalysethe hydrolysis of proteins; they are relevant in the “break down” of host cells and are regarded as important pathogenicity factors for soft rot fungi. Evidence shows that the PGs produced byColletotrichum acutatum, a fungal pathogen of fruit, are involved in the hydrolysis of cell walls when grown o­n pectin or apple cell walls. No data are available o­n the ability of proteins from stored apple to inhibit the activity ofC. acutatumhydrolases. An enzymatic inhibitor complex was extracted from healthy apples,cvPink LadyÒ, after storage, and evaluated againstC. acutatumendo-polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15) inin vitroandin vivotrials.Inin vitrotrials the inhibition determined by radial diffusion assay was over 62% after 24 h while in inoculated fruit the inhibition ranged from 33.9% to 54.4% after 4 days at 20°C. The PG inhibitor extracted from healthy apple skin was a heat-denaturable protein since the halo produced by protein extracted fromC. acutatumand added to boiled protein extracted from healthy apple skin tissue was 246 mm2, significantly higher than the halo produced by protein extracted fromC. acutatumdiluted with fresh protein extracted from healthy tissue (93.6 mm2). More investigations are required toevaluatedthe possibility of reducing anthracnose infections by manipulating PGIP levels in fruit.