NON-VOLATILE AND VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS PRODUCED BY APPLE LEAVES AND THEIR ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY AGAINST APPLE SCAB FUNGUS VENTURIA INAEQUALIS

Abstract

Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) is the most common and most devastating disease in apple cultivation. Fruits and leaves are mostly attacked leading to major economic losses upto 70% of the production value. Therefore, it is very important to control its infection. Frequent application of fungicides throughout the season is the primary technique for controlling scabs, but it results in the mutation of the Venturia strain and evolution of fungicide-resistant strains. Additionally, they increase production costs, and many fungicides are broad spectrum meaning they target a wide range of fungi including both harmful and beneficial fungi. Moreover, these fungicides can have residual effects and toxicity on the environment and human health. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on and introduce new strategies for controlling apple scab infection that are cost-effective, environment friendly, and highly effective. There are apple varieties that are resistant to apple scab, so we hypothesized that there will be difference in the metabolomic profile and volatile profiling of resistant and susceptible cultivar of apple. Information derived from this study provided new insights on different metabolites in apples having a role in providing resistance against apple scab disease. Following the identification of differential volatiles between susceptible and resistant apple cultivars, we primed the susceptible cultivar with the identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) before subjecting the primed plants to infection by Venturia inaequalis, to check whether the volatile can induce resistance in the primed plant. In future, it will empower farmers and agricultural professionals to substitute plant-based compounds for fungicides in their practices.