Species of Aspergillus causing post-harvest fruit decay in Israel

Abstract

Five species ofAspergillus were isolated from post-harvest decays of pears, apples, peaches, grapes, strawberries, melons and tomatoes.A. niger was the most common species and was isolated from all types of fruits. Next in frequency wasA. flavus, which was infrequently isolated from stored grapes, tomatoes and peaches.A. wentii, A. ochraceus andA. tamarii were each cultured from only one type of stored fruit.

All the fruit-decay Aspergilli were typical inhabitants of the atmospheres of store-rooms. Of these,A. niger was by far the most ubiquitous species, comprising about 80% of the total airborne Aspergilli. Each of the four other pathogenic Aspergilli comprised 0.2–0.4% of the total. However, some of the most common airborne Aspergilli such asA. versicolor (6.6% of the total), have never been isolated from any fruit decay and were also very limited in their potential pathogenicity.

The highest potential pathogenicity was attributed toA. niger, which was capable of infecting all inoculated fruits except eggplants, followed by a 2–3-day incubation period. The other Aspergilli cultured, pathogenic as well as airborne, showed selective potential pathogenicity when artificially inoculated into the fruit. Fruit tissues of apples, pears and tomatoes, followed by those of peaches and grapes, were found the most suitable for Aspergilli development, whereas strawberries and, more so, eggplants were mostly resistant to infection.