Abstract
Background Green mold disease on citrus caused by Penicillium digitatum is the most serious and destructive disease. It is causing 90% of production losses during post-harvest handling. Results In this study, the activity of seven yeast isolates from lemons against P. digitatum, a fungal pathogen that causes the green mold disease in lemons, was isolated and examined. In vitro experiments showed that isolate three significantly reduced pathogen growths and were later identified as Schwanniomyces vanrijiae. In addition, 3% ethanolic extracts of propolis (EEP) caused a strong mycelial growth inhibition with inhibition halos of 1.4 cm. The use of S. vanrijiae treatments to protect lemon fruits from green mold has been reported (55%); however, reports describing the application of EEP are limited (40%). Thus, the effectiveness of the combination of S. vanrijiae and 3% EEP in an antagonistic mixture for protecting lemon fruits from P. digitatum was examined. EEP and S. vanrijiae treatments were applied alone and in combination in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. The combined application of 3% EEP + S. vanrijiae on lemon fruits significantly reduced the severity and incidence of green mold (80 and 93.7%, respectively) with much higher efficacy than either treatment alone. Lemon fruits treated with both S. vanrijiae and 3% EEP showed increased levels of antioxidants, peroxidase (POD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and phenol than the untreated control. Conclusion The results indicated that the combination of S. vanrijiae + 3% EEP can strongly protect lemon fruits from green mold compared with the sole application of either bioagent.