ISHS Acta Horticulturae 297: II International Symposium on Kiwifruit
BOTRYTIS STEM-END ROT AND OTHER STORAGE DISEASES OF KIWIFRUIT - A REVIEW |
| Author: | P.J. Brook |
| Keywords: | disease prevention, ripe rots, temperature effects |
| Abstract:
Botrytis cinerea is a facultative parasite in kiwifruit orchards. It colonises senescent, wounded, and dead tissues of flowers, leaves, and canes. At harvest and during postharvest operations the picking wounds on fruits can become contaminated by Botrytis spores or pieces of Botrytis-infected tissue. The fungus invades the fruit through the picking wound and continues to grow in fruit stored at OC. First symptoms of stem-end rot appear 4–6 weeks after fruit has entered cool storage. Secondary Botrytis rots develop when the fungus spreads from fruits with stem-end rot to adjacent fruits. Botrytis stem-end rot can be prevented by application of fungicide to picking wounds immediately after harvest, but regulations in many countries prohibit this practice. Stem-end rot can be reduced by the application of dicarboximide sprays in the orchard shortly before harvest; and also by curing fruit by holding it at ambient temperatures for a few days after harvest before it is put into cool storage. After fruit has been taken from cool storage to be ripened for sale, fungal ripe rots can develop, caused by species of Botryosphaeria, Colletotrichum, Cryptosporiopsis, Diaporthe, Fusarium, Fusicoccum, Glomerella, and Phoma. Unlike Botrytis cinerea these fungi do not grow at the temperatures used for cool storage. Fruits infected by Botrytis produce ethylene in cool storage. Presence of only a few fruits with stem-end rot accelerates softening of healthy fruits nearby and increases the potential for development of ripe rots in them. | |
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