Evaluation of Antagonistic Potential of Fructosphere-Associated Microflora Against Major Crown Rot Pathogen of Robusta variety Banana

Banana is one of the tropical fruits that is exported in large quantities. Banana is an integral fruit component of most farming systems in Kerala and also an important commercial fruit crop of the country. Crown rot of dehanded banana is one of the most important and predominant postharvest diseases of banana which can lead to heavy losses for farmers as well as the wholesalers. A survey was conducted in five major banana growing districts of Kerala to identify the major pathogens associated with crown rot of banana in Kerala. Lasiodiplodia theobromae was found to be the major and most virulent pathogen associated with postharvest crown rot of Robusta variety banana in Kerala. Fructosphere microflora was isolated from healthy banana fruits to evaluate the antagonistic potential. 22 fungal isolates and 7 bacterial isolates were obtained from different locations of Kerala. Among the fructosphere isolates, the fungal isolates, W3B-BC and A3B-BC, showed highest inhibition on growth of the major pathogen with 44.44 and 40.00 per cent of inhibitions respectively. Based on the molecular studies, the best two effective biocontrol agents were identified as W3B-BC and A3B-BC as Aspergillus aculeatus (MN046330) and Aspergillus niger (MN04 6326) respectively using the universal inter transcriptional sequencing (ITS) primers.