Sanitation of prochloraz solutions in commercial mango packhouses.
Serfontein J. J., Serfontein S.
Author Affiliation: QMS Agri Science, Posbus 416, Letsitele 0885, South Africa.
27 : 86-88
Abstract : The presence of high bacterial populations in commercial fungicide baths was previously associated with the loss of prochloraz from fungicide baths. In this study, it was shown that bacterial populations present in fungicide baths from different packhouses had the ability to grow in the presence of prochloraz as sole carbon source. The indirect biological method was used to show that the concentration of prochloraz decline over time in the presence of fungicide bath associated bacteria. The addition of Sporekill to prochloraz solutions was able to eliminate bacterial populations from three out of four packhouses, while the population increase from the fourth packhouse was lowered compared to the control. Sporekill did not eliminate the bacterial population in a commercial fungicide bath. The importance of effective sanitation in the packhouse as such, was once again emphasized.