IDENTIFYING NATURAL VOLATILE COMPOUNDS THAT CONTROL GRAY MOLD (BOTRYTIS-CINEREA) DURING POSTHARVEST STORAGE OF STRAWBERRY, BLACKBERRY, AND GRAPE

Botrytis-inoculated fruit were treated with three levels of naturally occurring volatile compounds in capped bottles and rated for Botrytis development and evidence of phytotoxicity during 7 days of storage at 2 degrees C followed by 3-6 more days at 22 degrees C for strawberry a nd 7 days at 15 degrees C for blackberry and grape. Hexanal, 1-hexanol , (E)-2-hexen-1-ol, (Z)-6-nonenal, (E)-3-nonen-2-one, methyl salicylat e, and methyl benzoate exhibited potential as postharvest fumigants fo r control of Botrytis on strawberry at the lowest level tested. Ten co mpounds were evaluated on blackberry and grape. None caused phytotoxic responses as with strawberry, while nearly all of the compounds inhib ited Botrytis at all three test levels. Strawberry, blackberry, and gr ape metabolized (E)-2-hexenal with reduction of the aldehyde to an alc ohol and saturation of the carbon-carbon double bond adjacent to the c arbonyl, but strawberry yielded more esters as major products.