Evaluation of electrolyzed water to control fungal trunk pathogens in grapevine nurseries

Grapevine producers demand solutions to control fungal trunk pathogens (FTPs) in nurseries. Adopting integrated strategies combining several control methods has been indicated as the best approach to prevent or reduce infections on grapevine propagation material. In recent years, electrolyzed water (EW) has emerged as a sustainable alternative for disinfection. Thus, the objectives of our study were: (i) to determine the effect of EW on the conidial germination and mycelial growth of a wider selection of FTPs associated with different grapevine trunk diseases; and (ii) to evaluate the efficacy of EW to reduce infections caused by FTPs on grapevine planting material during the propagation process in a commercial nursery. In vitro experiments demonstrated the capacity of different EW products to reduce conidial germination and mycelium survival of selected FTPs belonging to different genera and species, even given that the results were variable depending on the type of product, pathogen evaluated and time of treatment. In two different nursery experiments, conducted in 2021 and 2023, EW-treated plants showed lower incidence of Petri and black-foot associated pathogens when compared with the untreated ones, although these differences were statistically significant only in 2023. Moreover, there were no negative effects of the EW treatments regarding the viability of the grafted plants. Our results about the effect of EW against conidia germination and mycelium survival of FTPs, and the results of the nursery trials, suggest that EW could have promising applications in the grapevine nursery process. This treatment could be integrated with other complementary management strategies and also be extended to nurseries of other fruit and nut crops, in which FTPs are currently becoming important emerging diseases. © 2024 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.