Mycoflora within black plum (Vitex donianasweet) fruits

Abstract

Introduction. Black plum (Vitex doniana sweet) is a plant widely used by various communities in Nigeria for many purposes, including production of wine and jam. Ripe mature black plum fruit for food use commonly collected from the ground instead of plucked which is more hygienic. An investigation was conducted to find out the mycoflora on the surface and within the fruits of black plum fruits. Materials and methods . Mycoflora associated with the surface, skin, pulp and juice of healthy intact fruits of black plum was isolated in malt extract agar and potato dextrose agar and identified. Pathogenicity test was carried out with three pathogens of the fruit. Results and discussion . Fungi with incidence of 20-100% of occurrence were classified as major components and those below 20% of occurrence were regarded as minor components. Yeasts making up the major components in the ripe fruits were Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans , while the minor yeast components were Rhodotrula sp., S. coreanus and Pichia sp. Filamentous fungi constituting major components were Aspergillus niger and Penicillium sp. whereas minor components were Botryodiplodia theobromae and Penicillium chrysogenum . Spoilage of fruits was caused by B. theobromae , Aspergillus sp. and A. niger . Conclusion . Yeasts and, occasionally, filamentous fungi occur within apparently healthy fruits of Vitex doniana sweet. Stages of development when the yeasts enter the pulp of the fruit need to be thoroughly investigated.