Utilization of winery wastes for Trichoderma viride biocontrol agent production by solid state fermentation.

Biocontrol agents are safe and environmental friendly alternatives for pesticides in agriculture application. Trichoderma viride WEBL0703 performed a high level of antagonistic activity toward a broad spectrum of phytopathogens and was determined as a biocontrol agent, which was produced by solid state fermentation using grape marc and wine lees. The maximum yield of T. viride conidia was up to 6.65 x 10(9) CFU/g initial dry substrate (IDS) after 10 d fermentation. As important enzymes for protecting plants from disease, chitinase, beta-glucanase, and pectinase yields were 47.8 U/g IDS, 8.32 U/g IDS and 9.83 U/g IDS, respectively. These results show that it is feasible to convert winery wastes to a value-added and environmental friendly biocontrol agent.