The litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruit are extremely susceptible to post
harvest moulds. The main pathogen of litchi,fruit was isolated anti identif
ied as Peronophythora litchi. Of antagonists tested, Bacillus subtilis it-a
s the most effective against Peronophythora litchi. The relative antifungal
activity of Bacillus subtilis reached a maximum after 48 h culture, and th
en decreased gradually. Purification of the crude extract of Bacillus subti
lis folowed by Sepharose Toyopearl HW-50 gel, filtration confirmed that the
antifungal compound of Bacillus subtilis had a molecular weight of about 1
.2 kD. Both the antagonist and its extract were effective in controlling ar
tificially wound-inoculated fruit pathogens, but the use of the extract had
better effect than that of the antagonist. Furthermore, application of the
extract of Bacillus subtilis exhibited good control of decay fbr a storage
period of 30 days at 5 degreesC and quality maintenance of litchi fruit in
terms of eating scores and contents of total soluble solids. titratable ac
idity anti ascorbic acid. No off-flavor of the treated,fruit was tasted.