Abstract

POST HARVEST PEAR FRUITS ASSOCIATED WITH SPOILAGE FUNGI AND THEIR FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCES IN APMC FRUIT MARKET VASHI, NAVI MUMBAI

Ramesh Baviskar*

Abstract

Pear (Pyrus communis L.) is the most significant fruit which is widely cultivated in abroad and also in India. There are few reports of the wholesaler regarding spoilage of this useful fruit in the market storage conditions. Post harvest decay of pear due to fungal pathogens in the different store houses in APMC Fruit market of Vashi, Navi Mumbai, was investigated by inspecting at regular intervals. Rotting and decay of the pears were observed regularly. Isolation of associated fungi from Pear fruits was carried out on Czapek’s Dox Agar medium. Pear rot was high in the store houses as well as in market condition. Total 12 fungal pathogens were isolated from decayed fruits viz. Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum acutatum, Venturia inaequalis, Monilinia fructicola, Botrytis cinerea, Aspergillus fumigates A. flavus, Sclerotina fructigena, Rhizopus stolonifer, Mucor piriformis, Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium expansum. Among these Penicillium expansum showed the highest rate of occurrence (90%) whereas Botrytis cinerea (30%) showed the lowest rate of frequency. Pear fruit spoilage was most severe under humid environment and was enhanced by wounds on fruit surfaces. Pathogenicity test were carried out and revealed that all twelve isolates proved pathogenic when artificially inoculated into healthy pear fruits.

Keywords: Pear fruits, postharvest, isolation, fungal pathogens, Pathogenicity, spoilage.