Innovative and sustainable approaches for the control of fungal diseases of fruit and vegetables

Supervisors: prof. Giuseppe Firrao, dr. Alessandra Di Francesco

In the past, fungal disease control has been mainly managed by means of chemicals. However, their excessive use has often led to the appearance of a series of problems inherent to human health, environmental contamination, reduction of biodiversity, and pathogens resistance. An alternative way to control fungal diseases could be represented by biological control, which in sensu stricto involves the use of microorganisms well known as biocontrol agents (BCAs). My Ph.D. project is focused on the evaluation of different BCAs efficacy against the main postharvest pathogens with the ambitious objective to use them in bioformulations. Firstly, in vitro, and in vivo tests will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of BCAs isolated strains and the related mechanisms. The most active BCAs will then be used for formulation prototypes, thanks to the strictly collaboration with an industrial company. Bioformulations prototypes will be tested against different fungal pathogens (in vitro and in vivo) and environmental conditions to verify the efficacy. A further objective of the following project will be to evaluate the activity of bioformulations to limit toxic metabolites (e.g., patulin, aflatoxins) accumulation in fruits.

Biography and contacts

Rudy Cignola was born 18/05/1994, in Cividale del Friuli, Italy. He carried out his studies at the University of Udine. Rudy obtained his bachelor’s degree in 2018 and his master’s degree in 2021 both in Food Science and Technology. From January 2022, he has started a Ph.D. fellowship at the University of Udine.

E-mail: cignola.rudy@spes.uniud.it