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 and 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 salicylate, and methyl benzoate exhibited potential as postharvest fumigants for control of Botrytis on strawberry at the lowest level tested. Ten compounds were evaluated on blackberry and grape. None caused phytotoxic responses as with strawberry, while nearly all of the compounds inhibited Botrytis at all three test levels. Strawberry, blackberry, and grape metabolized (E)-2-hexenal with reduction of the aldehyde to an alcohol and saturation of the carbon-carbon double bond adjacent to the carbonyl, but strawberry yielded more esters as major products.