Co-Application of Allicin and Chitosan Increases Resistance of <i>Rosa roxburghii</i> against Powdery Mildew and Enhances Its Yield and Quality

• Main Authors: Jiaohong Li (Author), Rongyu Li (Author), Cheng Zhang (Author), Zhenxiang Guo (Author), Xiaomao Wu (Author), Huaming An (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Powdery mildew, caused by <i>Sphaerotheca</i> sp., annually causes severe losses in yield and quality in <i>Rosa roxburghii</i> production areas of southwest China. In this study, the role of the co-application of allicin and chitosan in the resistance of <i>R. roxburghii</i> against powdery mildew and its effects on growth, yield and quality of <i>R. roxburghii</i> were investigated. The laboratory toxicity test results show that allicin exhibited a superior antifungal activity against <i>Sphaerotheca</i> sp. with EC₅₀ value of 148.65 mg kg⁻¹. In the field, the foliar application of allicin could effectively enhance chitosan against powdery mildew with control efficacy of 85.97% by spraying 5% allicin microemulsion (ME) 100-time liquid + chitosan 100-time liquid, which was significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.01) higher than 76.70% of allicin, 70.93% of chitosan and 60.23% of polyoxin. The co-application of allicin and chitosan effectively enhanced the photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll of <i>R. roxburghii</i> compared with allicin, chitosan or polyoxin alone. Moreover, allicin used together with chitosan was more effective than allicin or chitosan alone in enhancing <i>R. roxburghii</i> plant growth and fruit yield as well as improving <i>R. roxburghii</i> fruit quality. This work highlights that the co-application of allicin and chitosan can be used as a green, cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative strategy to conventional antibiotics for controlling powdery mildew of <i>R. roxburghii</i>.

Item Description

10.3390/antibiotics10121449
2079-6382