Effect of disinfecting harvesting knives with sodium hypochlorite on soft rot infection of Kimchi cabbage.

This study evaluated the effect of sterilizing harvesting knives with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) on soft rot in Kimchi cabbage. Knives were infected with Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc), sterilized with NaOCl (100, 200, and 300 mg/L), and used to cut Kimchi cabbage slices, which were incubated for 70 h in a 28 °C incubator. In Kimchi cabbage slices cut with a Pcc-inoculated knife without NaOCl sterilization, symptoms began to appear after 20 h, and approximately 60% of the cabbage slices were infected after 70 h of incubation. In contrast, in cabbage cut with a sterilized knife, soft rot symptoms were delayed, and they began to appear after 40 h of incubation in the 200 mg/L-treated. The expression levels of PG10, PG12-1, PG12-3, WRKY 33, MPK3, ACO1, and ACO2 were increased in infected plants, and NaOCl treatment decreased these expression levels. Transmission of soft rot can be minimized by disinfecting harvesting knives with 200 mg/L NaOCl. © The Korean Society of Food Science and Technology 2021.