Identification of the Fungal Postharvest Disease on Peach Fruits

This study investigated the fungi associated with the spoilage of the most world popular fruits cultivated commercially, namely peach, although its botanical name is Prunus persica L. Batsch belongs to the family Rosaceae. A total of 500 mixed samples of peach fruits were collected. The spoilage peaches fungi were isolated, characterized and identified. The fungi isolated and identified from the spoiled peaches were, Monilinia fructicola, Sphaerotheca sp, Alternaria tenuis, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Botryodiplodia sp, Cladosporium carpophilum, Penicillium sp, Rhizopus sp and Trichothecium sp. The most prevalent fungi isolated from the samples and found in all samples collected from peach fruits and caused severe post harvest losses were Aspergillus sp, Penicillium sp and Rhizopus sp and considered as the main species that cause the postharvest disease infection of peach fruits The study showed that the presence of these fungi associated with peach spoilage caused high risk to humans and animals due to they produce microbial toxins or presence pathogenic microorganisms in food products, which lead to food poisoning. The suitable and proper technology in each harvesting steps must apply in order to minimize the contamination of these microorganisms and maintain good quality during harvesting, grading, cleaning, packaging and transportation. Ahmed Rashed Al-Najada "Identification of the Fungal Postharvest Disease on Peach Fruits" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-1 , December 2019, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd29729.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/biological-science/microbiology/29729/identification-of-the-fungal-postharvest-disease-on-peach-fruits/ahmed-rashed-al-najada