2022 review
Efficacy of peroxygen disinfestants against fungal plant pathogens. A systemic review and meta-analysis
[Review of ]. CROP PROTECTION, 164.
author keywords: Hydrogen peroxide; Hydrogen dioxide; Peracetic acid; Peroxyacetic acid; Disinfectant; Sanitizer
open access via doi.org (publisher)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
3. Good Health and Well-being
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: January 9, 2023
The peroxygen compounds, i.e. hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and potassium peroxymonosulfate, have been used as disinfestants in agricultural and horticultural operations for about 30 years. This systematic review was conducted to establish the overall efficacy of peroxygen compounds against fungal plant pathogens under production settings. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the biocidal activity of peroxygen intervention treatments compared to non-treated controls against 20 fungal genera of plant pathogens in 95 studies. The overall summary effect was a high Hedges' g value of 3.48 with 95% confidence limits of 3.02–3.93 (P < 0.0001) for the random effects model. This observation indicated that use of peroxygen compounds, in most cases, resulted in a high reduction in viable propagules or disease progression. However, heterogeneity was also high with 88.9% of the total variance accounted for by true variance and a high between-study variance of 3.71. To understand what influences heterogeneity, subgroup analyses were performed on the categorical moderators, i.e. fungal genera, target materials and peroxygen active ingredients (a.i.). In addition, two-variable meta-regression analyses were performed with the continuous moderators of peroxygen dose and/or contact time and the three categorical moderators. Subgroup analyses showed differences between target materials (P = 0.0151) and peroxygen a.i. (P = 0.0101) but not between fungal genera (P = 0.1753). Meta-regression results concurred with subgroup analysis results wherein models with target materials and dose (P = 0.0119) or time (P = 0.0122) accounted for 8 and 9% of the true variance, respectively. Models with peroxygen a.i. and dose (P = 0.0067) or time (P = 0.0093) accounted for 5 and 4% of the true variance, respectively. Thus, heterogeneity was only partly explained by the moderators evaluated and a larger portion of the true variance attributed to factors not available through the systematic review. Additional factors were evident also, such as diversity of research protocol, assessment measurements, sample size and small-study bias. The results support that the current doses and contact times recommended for peroxygen compounds will generally be effective at controlling fungal plant pathogens in agricultural and horticultural production systems. Results also indicate that efficacy of peroxygen compounds against fungi can be affected by the target material being treated and the peroxygen a.i. applied and potentially by fungal genus. This analysis serves as a base reference for considering efficacy performance of peroxygen compounds in these production settings.