Abstract
Sweet oranges are prone to spoilage by filamentous fungi as a result of their high levels of sugars and low PH values. These fungi are known to produce toxins which are deleterious to human health. This study was therefore conducted to isolate, characterize and identify the filamentous fungi associated with the spoilage of sweet oranges sold in major Awka Markets, Nigeria. Thirty sweet orange fruits purchased from Eke-Awka, Temporary Site, Nodu, Ifite and Amaenyi Markets were used for the study. The average filamentous fungal count of the spoilt sweet orange fruits was 2.0 x103 cfu/ml, 1.3 x 103 cfu/ml, 2.1 x 103 cfu/ml, 1.6x 103 cfu/ml and 1.8 x 103 cfu/ml for the samples from Eke-Awka, Temporary Site, Nodu, Ifite and Amaenyi Markets respectively. The fungi were identified as Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer, Mucor mucedo, Penicillium digitatum, Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus flavus. The percentage distribution of the fungi was 27.5%, 22.5%, 15.0%, 10.0%, 7.5 and 17.5% for Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer, Mucor mucedo, Penicillium digitatum, Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus flavus respectively. Aspergillus niger caused the highest degree of spoilage. Good agricultural practices, adequate storage facilities and good handling practices must be put in place to reduce the incidence of these fungi in sweet oranges thereby minimizing their spoilage.
Highlights
Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) belongs to the family Rutaceae and is one of the major commercial fruit crops that is widely eaten fresh or taken as juice [1]
Many moulds and yeast are involved in the spoilage of sweet oranges fruits. These include Aspergillus spp, Fusarium spp, Geotrichum spp, Penicillium spp, Rhizopus spp, Saccharomyces spp, Candida spp and Trichosporon spp. These fungi render the fresh fruits unfit for human consumption by causing their deterioration, leading to the Bioengineering and Bioscience 3(3): 44-49, 2015 reduction in quality and texture, off-flavour development and loss of nutrients the objective of this work was to isolate and identify the filamentous fungi associated with the spoilage of post-harvest sweet orange fruits sold in major Awka Markets, Nigeria in order to put in place control measures that would reduce the losses due to spoilage
The fungi were identified as Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillum digitatum, Mucor mucedo, Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus flavus
Summary
Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) belongs to the family Rutaceae and is one of the major commercial fruit crops that is widely eaten fresh or taken as juice [1]. It is one of the most important winter fruit crops of the world and is mainly cultivated in the tropical and subtropical regions with a mediterranean climate in over 137 countries on six continents [2,3,4]. Sweet orange is an important fruit crop in international trade next to grapes. Sweet oranges have been reported to prevent cancer, asthma, obesity, arthritis, kidney stones, coronary heart diseases, high blood pressure and stroke and are necessary for the maintenance of healthy mucus membranes, skin and vision [7,8,9,10]
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