PJB-2018-728
EVALUATION OF POST-HARVEST FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH FRUITS IN KARACHI FRUIT MARKETS, PAKISTAN
UZMA SITARA
Abstract
Fungal infection are the main problem of post-harvest rots of fruits during storage and cause significant economic losses in Pakistan. A total 32 species of fungi belonging to 18 genera were isolated from five fruit samples viz. guava (Psidium guajava), jujube (Ziziphus jujube), mango (Mangifera indica), orange (Citrus sinensis) and sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) from five fruit markets of Karachi by using standard techniques of Blotter paper method and Potato Dextrose Agar plate method. Isolated genera were Aspergillus, Alternaria, Botryodiplodia, botrytis, Colletotrichum, Cephalosporium, Cladosporium, Drechslera, Fusarium, Fusicoccum, Geotrichum, Mucor, Monilinia, Penicillium, Phomopsis, Phoma, Rhizopus, and Rhizoctonia. Among all nine fungi viz., Aspergillus niger, Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea, Botryodiplodia theobromea, Colletotrichum gleosporioides, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium digitatum, Rhizopus stolonifer & Monilinia fructicola were proved their pathogenicity and found to be associated as the dominant species with the rotten fruits. In all fruit samples, orange was found highly contaminated with fungal infestation followed by guava, mango, sapodilla and jujube samples. The highest percent occurrence of fungi on fruit samples of five fruit markets were recorded for the fruit samples of Sabzi Mandi (32%) whereas lowest for Gulestan e Johar (13%). Post-harvest mycoflora preferred their growth on Blotter paper method compare to Potato Dextrose Agar method. A wide variety of pathogen cause post-harvest diseases in fruits and infect during and after harvest through surface injuries. To prove these facts an evaluation was carried out to study the fungal contamination of five selected fruit markets in Karachi city.
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