Influence of coldstorage temperatures on strawberry leak caused by <i>Rhizopus</i> spp

Abstract

Strawberry leak is a postharvest disease of coldstored strawberry fruit Between October 2007 and March 2009 the effect of temperature on growth and pathogenicity was tested for 39 isolates of Rhizopus and Mucor spp the causal agents of strawberry leak All isolates were grown on potato dextrose agar at target temperatures of 27C Most isolates grew at the lower temperatures tested but temperature fluctuations in the incubators were also detected A selection of the most coldtolerant Rhizopus spp isolates was used in a growth experiment on potato dextrose agar sliced and whole fruit stored at 3C Fungal growth was monitored daily by removing samples at intervals and exposing them to 20C for 2 h before returning them to 3C Little difference was detected in overall growth patterns between numbers of interruptions indicating that cold storage only needs to be interrupted once for the fungus to be activated