Abstract
This study was carried out for four month (September, 2015 to December, 2015) to find the fungal species associated with post-harvest spoilage of pawpaw fruits sales at Na’ibawa and Wudil Markets all in Kano State. A total of five strains of fungi were isolated and identified as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavuus, Rhizophus stolonifer, Yeast, and Fusarium. Pathogenicity test of each fungal isolate showed that all fungi were capable of causing rotting of the fruit and most severe rotting was caused by Aspergillus niger and Yeast with 8(29.63%) Respectively at Na’ibawa market and 10(34.48%) and 9(31.03%) at Wudil market followed by Rhizophus with 7(25.93%) and 5 (17.25%) while Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium produced the least rotting of the fruit. The difference in the fungal spoilage of Carica papaya between the two market areas Na’ibawa and Wudil markets was statistically significant (p≥0.05). From the result of this study, it is clearly indicated that the spoilage of pawpaw fruits in the two markets was due to fungal attack.
Highlights
Fruits and vegetables are very important food components with high dietary and nutritional qualities (Barth et al, 2009)
The aim of this study is to isolate and identify the fungi associated with post-harvest spoilage of pawpaw fruits and to determine the pathogenicity effect of the different isolates on healthy pawpaw fruits to ascertain that the fungi isolated were capable of causing spoilage and produce the disease symptoms
A. niger and Yeast have the highest frequency of occurrence with 8(29.63%) respectively, Rhizopuss tolonifer and A. flavus are moderately frequent with frequency of 7(25.93%) and 3(11.11%) while fusarium solani is the least occurring with 1(3.70%) at Na’ibawa market while the result from Wudil market showed that the same isolates from that of Na’ibawa market were found to be the most occurring i.e. A. niger and Yeast with 10(34.40%) and 9(31.035) respectively, followed by Rhizopuss tolonifer and A. flavus with 5(17.25%) and 4(13.79%) and fusarium solani was the least occurring with 1(3.45%) as shown in
Summary
Fruits and vegetables are very important food components with high dietary and nutritional qualities (Barth et al, 2009). It is estimated that about 20-25% of the harvested fruits are decayed by pathogens during post-harvest handling even in developed countries (Droby, 2006; Zhu, 2006).Fruits and vegetables are exposed to contamination by microbes through contact with soil, dust and water and by handling at harvest or during postharvest processing This makes them to harbour a wide range of microorganisms including plant and human pathogens (Eni et al, 2010). Charley (1999) observed that fresh fruits carry out the physiological function of respiration, thereby absorbing and releasing gases and other materials from and to environment This condition makes them susceptible to microbial infection under condition of high ambient temperature and relative humidity which lead to their deterioration during post-harvest period. The aim of this study is to isolate and identify the fungi associated with post-harvest spoilage of pawpaw fruits and to determine the pathogenicity effect of the different isolates on healthy pawpaw fruits to ascertain that the fungi isolated were capable of causing spoilage and produce the disease symptoms
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