Effect of fresh water algae, Chlorella fusca on improving self-life of organic strawberry in cold storage
Chang Ki Shim: National Institute of Agricultural Sciences
<div>The most important cultivation technique of strawberry is to prevent air-borne disease and increase hardness.The aim of this study was to improve organically cultivated strawberry quality and self-life through suppression of plant disease with application of <em>Chlorella fusca</em>. We treated seven days old liquid culture of <em>C. fusca</em> (1.5×10<sup>6</sup>cells/ml) was applied to strawberry in the spray and irrigation method with one week intervals. Untreated control of strawberry fruit and leaves showed the symptoms of powdery mildew and gray mold disease with average 35.3 % and 21.2 % of disease incidence, respectively. Among the application method, the combination of spray and irrigation method was the highest control effect of powdery mildew and gray mold disease with 72.3 % of disease control value. The hardness of strawberry treated with <em>C. fusca</em> was significantly higher than that of untreated by 0.3 ~ 0.7 N/cm<sup>2</sup>. The hardness of strawberries treated <em>C. fusca</em> was 1.4 N/cm<sup>2</sup> higher than that of untreated fruits after 14 days of cold storage. After 14 days of cold storage, the soluble solid content of strawberry was investigated, C. fusca treatment was found to be higher than untreated by average 1.0 brix. Decay fungal growth was significantly lower in the chlorella treatments than in the untreated treatments at 14 days after cold storage. A freshwater alga, <em>Chlorella fusca</em> is a new functional microorganism that needs to be studied for mode of action and effective application techniques to apply other crops in organic farming.</div>
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