Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, which is one of the major diseases of red dates, causes severe damages in jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Miller) production in Korea. This study was done to evaluate the inhibition of anthracnose occurrence and pathogen growth by the treatment of environment-friendly materials such as a Bordeaux mixture and loess-sulfur mixture and by defense-response signaling in jujube. The in vitro test of the environmentfriendly materials and signaling molecules that were routinely applied did not exhibit any antifungal activities against the pathogen for jujube anthracnose. The Bordeaux mixture and loess-sulfur mixture at a two-fold concentration showed inhibition zones that were 16.0 and 20.3 mm in diameter, respectively. In the pathogen inoculation test with detached jujube tree leaves, while treatment with the environment-friendly materials diluted by half showed no inhibition of lesion development, they did show inhibition of lesion development when they were routinely applied to the leaves. In detached jujube fruits inoculated with the pathogen, better suppressive effects by the treatment of the environment-friendly materials were seen in the fruits at a young stage rather than in the ripening stage. The in vivo test with jujube trees in pots showed that the treatment of salicylic acid (1 mM) resulted in the best suppressive effects against lesion development. The results suggest that it is possible to manage the incidence of anthracnose by the treatment of environment-friendly materials such as the Bordeaux and loess-sulfur mixtures and signaling chemicals such as ethephon, hydrogen peroxide, methyl jasmonate, and salicylic acid in jujube trees and fruits. Consequently, these findings suggest that environment-friendly materials and defense response signaling molecules could be used as suitable candidates for sustainable agrochemicals to manage anthracnose in jujube production.