• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.546-552
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• 1996

The applicability of chitosan, a biodegradable natural polymer, as the coating material to prevent the dispersal of the spores of the apple white rot agent Botryosphaeria dothidea, was investigated. The physical properties of mixed chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) film showed the increased physical properties for film formation, such as tensil strength, elongation, and viscosity, compared to either chitosan or PVA film. The FT-IR spectra of chitosan/PVA film indicated that the film was formed by simple blending not by any new synthetic bond. The chitosan and chitosan/PVA film showed effective antifungal activity on B. dothidea. The formed films were well decomposed by ASTM strains used for biodegradability test, on the other hand, the PVA film could not be decomposed by above standard strains. The field test at apple orchard showed that the dispersal of B. dothidea spores could be effectively reduced by coated film, especially by chitosan/PVA film. The spore dispersal was reduced upto 97.0% by 1.0% chitosan/5.0% PVA film during 4 months.