Antibacterial activity of electrolyzed water on Pseudomonas syringae and Clavibacter michiganensis and its effect on seed germination/Atividade antibacteriana da agua eletrolisada sobre Pseudomonas syringae e Clavibacter michiganensis e seu efeito na germinacao de sementes

Tomato plants are a crop of great economic importance worldwide. Mexico is considered the world's leading exporter of this vegetable, with a 24% market share. However, this crop can be affected by diseases such as bacterial freckle and bacterial cancer that can be introduced to plantations through infected seeds. Pesticides are used in agriculture for disease control and are considered a source of environmental pollution. Alternatives to the use of pesticides must therefore be sought. To this effect, electrolyzed water is a technology that has been shown to have antimicrobial activity. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of electrolyzed water on Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato and Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis was evaluated on cells suspension and tomato seed germination. Electrolyzed oxidizing water (EOW) and electrolyzed reduced water (ERW) treatments were applied for 1, 3 and 6 minutes. In addition, seeds were infected with each of the bacterial strains separately and electrolyzed water treatments were applied. Results show that oxidizing water is more efficient as an antimicrobial agent, as it achieved 100% growth reduction of the two bacterial strains after one minute of treatment. These treatments did not affect germination percentage, since germination percentages above 90% were obtained in all treatments and the seedlings were not affected in any of the evaluated variables. Key words: electrolyzed oxidizing water, electrolyzed reduced water, free chlorine, antibacterial. O tomate e uma colheita de grande importancia economica em todo o mundo. O Mexico e considerado o primeiro exportador desta hortalica no mundo, com 24% de participacao. No entanto, esta cultura pode ser afetada por doencas como a mancha bacteriana e o cancro bacteriano que podem ser introduzidos nas colheitas atraves de sementes infectadas. Os agrotoxicos sao utilizados na agricultura para controlar doencas e sao considerados uma fonte de contaminacao ambiental. Por esse motivo, e necessario buscar alternativas ao uso de agrotoxicos. Nesse sentido, a agua eletrolisada e uma tecnologia que tem demonstrado atividade antimicrobiana. No presente estudo, a atividade antimicrobiana da agua eletrolisada sobre Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomate e Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis em celulas em suspensao e na germinacao de sementes de tomate. Os tratamentos com agua eletrolisada oxidante e redutora foram aplicados por 1, 3 e 6 minutos. Por outro lado, as sem