Application of Microbial Antagonists as Biocontrol Agents Against Postharvest Diseases of Fruits and Vegetables

Postharvest diseases cause considerable losses to harvested fruits and vegetables during transportation and storage. How to control postharvest decay loss and prolong shelf-life has become the focus. Concerned with healthy and environment-friendly products,traditional approaches such as chemical fungicides cannot meet our need. More and more attention is paid on biocontrol agents against postharvest diseases of fruits and vegetables. Of them,the use of antagonistic microorganisms becomes popular which is regarded as promising alternatives to control postharvest pathogens. Nowadays,quite number of microbial antagonists has been isolated and defined as effective in postharvest disease control. This paper focuses on microbial antagonists in postharvest biological control. Possible principle of microbial antagonists was also discussed and explored new possibilities in biology control to provide reference in postharvest decay control research and commercial use.