Edo Gerefa Sefu, Godana Esa Abiso, Ngolong Ngea Guillaume Legrand, Wang Kaili, Yang Qiya, Zhang Hongyin
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Università degli Studi del Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy.
Foods. 2025 Aug 31;14(17):3075. doi: 10.3390/foods14173075.
Fruits and vegetables are essential for a healthy diet, providing vital nutrients and contributing to global food security. Fungal pathogens that interact with fruits and vegetables reduce their quality and shelf life and lead to economic losses and risks to human health through the production of mycotoxins. Chemical fungicides, used to control postharvest pathogens, are posing serious environmental and health risks, driving interest in safer alternative strategies. Biocontrol methods using antagonistic microbes, such as yeasts, are eco-friendly, sustainable, and the most promising, but they often have limited efficacy and specificity in diverse produce. There is growing interest in the innovative enhancement of biocontrol strategies. The present review shows that inducing, enhancing, co-application, encapsulation, and post-application treatments are common enhancement techniques, while environmental, host, and pathogen characteristics, antagonistic microbial traits, and chemical inputs are the major gearing factors for the best application methods. These methods do not involve genetic modification, which is adequate to reduce the proliferation of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) while optimizing antagonistic microbial performance by promoting growth, inducing host resistance, enhancing antifungal properties, improving adhesion, and boosting stress tolerance. Most enhancers fall under groups of nutritional additives, protective carriers, growth stimulants, and encapsulants. Integrating these enhancers and best methods promises reduced postharvest losses, supports sustainable agriculture, and addresses economic losses and food security challenges. This study highlights the role of organic and natural elicitors, their application methods, their mechanisms in improving BCAs (Biological Control Agents), and their overall efficiency. This review concisely compiles recent strategies, calling for further research to revolutionize fungal pathogen management, reduce food waste, and promote responsible farming practices.
水果和蔬菜对健康饮食至关重要，它们提供重要营养物质并有助于全球粮食安全。与水果和蔬菜相互作用的真菌病原体降低了它们的品质和保质期，并通过产生霉菌毒素导致经济损失和对人类健康构成风险。用于控制采后病原体的化学杀菌剂正带来严重的环境和健康风险，这激发了人们对更安全替代策略的兴趣。使用拮抗微生物（如酵母）的生物防治方法具有生态友好、可持续且最具前景的特点，但它们在不同农产品中往往效果有限且特异性不强。人们对创新增强生物防治策略的兴趣与日俱增。本综述表明，诱导、增强、联合应用、包封和应用后处理是常见的增强技术，而环境、宿主和病原体特征、拮抗微生物特性以及化学投入是最佳应用方法的主要调节因素。这些方法不涉及基因改造，这足以减少转基因生物的扩散，同时通过促进生长、诱导宿主抗性、增强抗真菌特性、改善附着力和提高胁迫耐受性来优化拮抗微生物的性能。大多数增强剂属于营养添加剂、保护载体、生长刺激剂和包封剂类别。整合这些增强剂和最佳方法有望减少采后损失，支持可持续农业，并应对经济损失和粮食安全挑战。本研究强调了有机和天然诱导剂的作用、它们的应用方法、它们在改善生物防治剂方面的机制以及它们的整体效率。本综述简要汇编了近期策略，呼吁进行进一步研究以彻底改变真菌病原体管理、减少食物浪费并促进负责任的耕作实践。
