Abstract:
Potato tubers are stored for up to ten months. Therefore, controlling the
conditions (temperature and relative humidity) in the storage environment is
essential to reduce the risk of appearance of potato diseases. Fluctuations in the
environmental conditions appear throughout the storage room, allowing the
development of potato rots. This work aimed to identify Volatile Organic
Compound (VOC) biomarkers of potato diseases to achieve an early
identification of potato rots under commercial storage conditions. Furthermore, to
achieve a deep understanding of the ecophysiology of the fungal and bacterial
pathogens involved. Some of the objectives of this study were the isolation of
fungal pathogens from potato tubers, the study of the mycotoxin production in the
presence of dry rot, the development of a methodology for the VOC sampling and
identification, and the study of the effect of storage time on the potato
susceptibility to dry rot and soft rot.
A method for the untargeted detection and identification of VOCs produced by
potatoes during storage was developed using Thermal Desorption-Gas
Chromatography-Time of Flight- Mass Spectrometry. A range of different TD
(Thermal desorption) tubes were evaluated, and the most suitable for the
adsorption of VOCs under the study conditions were selected.
An in vitro study of the pathogens responsible for gangrene and dry rot was
carried out using Natural Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and three different
temperatures (5,10 and 15ᴼC) and water activities (aw) (0.97, 0.98, 0.99). Higher
temperature and aw resulted in higher growth rate and lag time of both pathogens,
Fusarium spp. and Boeremia foveata. Furthermore, mycotoxins, such as T-2, HT-
2, diacetoxyscirpenol, beauvericin and neosolaniol, were detected in potato
tubers infected with dry rot.
An in vivo study of dry rot and soft rot was carried out at 8.5ᴼC, using two cultivars
with different susceptibility to these diseases (cvs. Record and Casablanca). The
internal and external lesions resulting from the infection were assessed over time
and the VOC fingerprint of each cultivar at each time point was determined. The
effect of storage time on the disease severity was also evaluated, demonstrating
that at 8.5ᴼC, only dry rot’s severity was affected by the longer storage time, while
no effect was observed in soft rot.
Several VOCs were detected in higher abundance in presence of the pathogen
in the in vivo and in vitro studies. They were selected as potential biomarkers of
dry rot, soft rot and gangrene. Ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate and acetic acid
were detected in vitro as potential indicators of the presence of a fungal or
bacterial disease. Furthermore, 2-methylpropan-1-ol was selected as a potential
indicator of the presence of a fungal pathogen, such as Fusarium spp.,
responsible for dry rot in potato tubers. In vivo, 1-methoxy-3-methylbutane, 2-
butanone, dimethyl disulfide and hydrogen cyanide were detected as potential
biomarkers of dry rot or soft rot in potato tubers.
Lastly, based on the findings that have been achieved in this work, future
research should be focused on the study of the growth and VOC production of
Pectobacterium carotovorum spp. in vitro and the study of the disease severity
and VOC production of gangrene in vivo. Furthermore, a validation of the VOC
results achieved in this work under commercial storage conditions should be
carried out. These studies will confirm and enhance the findings achieved in this
work.