DIVERSITY AND PATHOGENICITY OF FUSARIUM SPECIES CAUSING POSTHARVEST ROT IN CHERRIES AND THEIR CONTROL METHODS

The postharvest spoilage of sweet cherry fruit (Prunus avium) from three selected geographical locations, namely Henan, Shandong and Hebei, was investigated. The associated fungi was isolated from cherry fruits on Potatoe dextrose agar (PDA). A total of four (4) fungi were isolated,namely Fusarium fujikuroi,Fusarium lateritium,Fusariumgraminearum, and Fusarium proliferatum. Fusarium proliferatum was the most prevalent of the four fungi isolated and appeared in all four locations. Cherry fruit spoilage was most severe in humid environments and was enhanced by wounds on fruit surfaces. The pathogenicity test revealed that all four isolates proved pathogenic when artificially inoculated into healthy cherry fruits. These organisms are, therefore, the causal agents of cherry fruit rot under the conditions of this study. Cherry suffers from several diseases at all stages of its life. Cherry rot, caused by the fungus Fusarium species is the most important postharvest disease of cherry.An experiment was carried out to test the possibility of using some mefentrifluconazole and y19315 fungicide to reduce postharvest losses induced by Fusarium species in cherry fruits. In this study,the antifungal activity of fungicides under in vitro conditions was assayed by testing various concentrations(0,0.6, 0.3, 0.15, 0.075 ug/ml) for y19315 and (1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125 ug/ml) for mefentrifluconazole and under in vivo condition by using different essential oil concentrations (0, 10,50 and 100 ug/ml) for both fungicides on inoculated cherry fruits.