Role of Antagonistic Yeast Candida tropicalis YZ27 on Postharvest Life and Quality of Litchi cv. Bombai

The efficacy of the antagonistic yeast (Candida tropicalis YZ27) as a biological control agent against postharvest natural decay and quality retention of litchi (cv. Bombai) was studied. Application of the yeast antagonist led to rapid colonization on the surface of the fruit and significantly reduced the natural decay incidence and severity following storage at ambient condition (28 ± 2°C, 78 ± 1% RH) for six days compared to control fruit. Application of C. tropicalis YZ27 prevented weight loss of fresh fruit (8.2%), pericarp browning (8%) and reduction of anthocyanin pigments (11%) of the pericarp over control (12.4%, 96.0% and 38.5% respectively in untreated fruit). Quality attributes like total soluble solids, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid content of litchi fruit were 17.18%, 0.53% and 7.78 mg/100 g in C. tropicalis YZ27 applied fruits compared to 11.95%, 0.30% and 6.16 mg/100 g respectively. The results indicate that C. tropicalis YZ27 has great potential for development of commercial biocontrol formulations as an alternative of SO2 fumigation to control postharvest decay and quality retention of litchi fruit.