Porat, R., Department of Postharvest Science, ARO, Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan, Israel
Mayuoni-Kirshenbaum, L., Department of Postharvest Science, ARO, Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan, Israel
Lichter, A., Department of Postharvest Science, ARO, Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan, Israel
Ezra, D., Department of Plant Pathology, ARO, Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan, Israel
Kosto, I., Agriculture Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture, PO Box 30, Bet Dagan, Israel

Crown rot decay caused by the gray mold Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium sp. is responsible for severe economic losses during postharvest storage and marketing of pomegranate fruit. In the present study, the efficacy of Switch® and Scholar® (Syngenta Crop Protection Inc., NC, USA) fungicides as pre-and postharvest sprays on development of crown rots in pomegranate fruit was evaluated. It was found that preharvest sprays with 0.1% Switch®, at the end of flowering/beginning of fruit set period significantly reduced postharvest crown rot decay development by 60 to 75%. In addition, dipping of fruits after harvest in 0.15% Scholar® further reduced crown rot decay development by similar rates of 60 to 80% as compared with control untreated fruit. In both pre-and postharvest treatments, it was not possible to reduce decay to a level below 10%. The residual level of fungus after harvest was below the permitted thresholds. Overall, the feasibility to reduce crown rot decay development by pre-and postharvest fungicidal treatments was demonstrated.