Post harvest diseases fruits and vegetables - Xavier University ...

FREEDOM PALESTINE FREEDOM PALESTINE FREEDOM PALESTINE
xii Preface
resistance of the young fruit or vegetable, chapters 9, 10 and 11 describe
chemical, physical and biological means for preventing disease initiation,
inhibiting its development or reducing its severity. Increased official and
public concern about the chemical residues left on the fresh produce and
the resistance some pathogens have developed toward major fungicides
have stimulated the search for alternative technologies for postharvest
disease control. This section emphasizes the search for natural and safe
chemical compounds, and the variety of alternative physical and biological
control methods. It also points to the possibility of exploiting the natural
defensive substances of fruits and vegetables, both constitutive and
induced, to enhance host resistance during storage. This leads us to the
last chapter, which introduces new approaches to the prevention of
postharvest diseases, by inducing the natural host resistance by means of
chemical, physical and biological elicitors. At present, with the
developments in molecular genetics, we are standing at the dawn of a new
era in which genetic crop modification may be of central importance
among the variety of methods used to increase host resistance against
postharvest diseases. Approaches to enhancing fruit resistance by creating
disease-resistant transgenic plants have been discussed.
This book is intended for teachers and students who focus on
postharvest pathology and plant pathology programs, for scientists in
research institutes, companies and organizations dealing with fruit and
vegetable preservation technologies and with extension and training in
the areas of harvesting, handling, packaging and storage, and for all
those striving to improve the quality of harvested fruits and vegetables
and to lengthen their postharvest life.
I would like to thank the many students who expressed the desire to
put the material of the lectures on paper and, therefore, encouraged me
to write this book. My thanks also go to the members of the Department
of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce at the Volcani Center, who
advised me and aided by reading of the text or parts of it, and to all the
scientists who approved the inclusion of the illustrations of their
research in this book.
A special thanks to colleagues who provided me with several photos
which appear in this book: Dr. Nehemia Aharoni (Photos 1, 2) and Dr.
Samir Droby (Photos 7, 8), and to the Atomic Energy Board, Pelindaba,
South Africa for Photos 3, 4, 5, 6.
Rivka Barkai-Golan
Beit Dagan - Rehovot
http://arab2000.forumpro.fr