Study supporting the usefulness of electrolysed water in pathogen inactivation

Penicillium species can cause massive losses for high?value crop like citrus. Electrolysed water was proposed as?alternative treatment to chlorine compounds and fungicides.The effect of incubating spore suspension of three?Penicillium spp. with acidic (acEW) and alkaline alEW)?electrolysed water was assessed. The electrolysed water?was produced by PE-1 water ionizer machine that use only?naturally present salts in tap water and allows the user to?choose between different levels of electrolysing. Five titanium-platinum coated plates were used for the electrolysing?process and the system had separation barrier between?anode and cathode compartments to produce two types of?electrolysed water. acEW and alEW physical/chemical characteristics?were measured and studied in relation to inactivation?of three Penicillium spp. units. Results revealed weak?correlation between free chlorine, Oxidation/Reduction?Potential and pH against the strength of sanitisation tested?as colony forming units. Using the higher levels in acEW and?alEW showed the strongest biocidal effect on Penicillium?spp. When using the optimum level of electrolysing, alEW?achieved higher inhibition for P. digitatum, P. italicum and?P. ulaiense, respectively. The results support the usefulness?of electrolysed water in pathogen inactivation, but using?amended salt solutions would improve the biocidal effect?of electrolysing (See, below, "Effectiveness of electrolysed water to sanitise citrus fruits - the salt matters").Financial support: STDF and Egypt (grant no. 5555).Original title and complete list of authorsPRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF ALKALINE AND ACIDIC?ELECTROLYSED WATER TO CONTROL PENICILLIUM SPECIES?OF CITRUSHussien A1, Al-Essawy A2, Abo Rehab MEA2 & Youssef K21Central Administration of Plant Quarantine, Ministry?of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Dokki, Egypt;2Agricultural Research Center, Plant Pathology Research?Institute, Giza, Egypt; e-mail: youssefeladawy@arc.sci.eg?International Citrus Congress 2016 Picture by?Good Fruit Grower