Comparison of the occurrence of fungi causing postharvest diseases of apples grown in organic and integrated production systems in orchards in the Czech Republic.

Abstract

During the years 2013-2015, the occurrence of fungi causing postharvest diseases of apples was evaluated in three apple orchards with integrated and organic production systems in the Czech Republic. The postharvest disease fungi were more frequently recorded in fruits from organically cultivated apple trees (average 29.97%) than those from integrated production (17.67%). This difference is statistically significant. Neofabraea, Penicillium, Alternaria and a sterile grey mycelium were the most frequently recorded taxa in apples grown in organic and integrated production systems. There were also significant differences in the frequency of occurrence of the most frequent fungal taxa between years. In 2013 and 2014, Neofabraea was the most frequently isolated genus in both cultivation systems, whereas in 2015, Penicillium was the most frequently recorded genus also in both cultivation systems, which was likely caused by the low precipitation in the 2015 growing season.

Review of the Impact of Apple Fruit Ripening, Texture and Chemical Contents on Genetically Determined Susceptibility to Storage Rots

“…Genetic variation among cultivars (each cultivar usually corresponds to a single genotype in apple and other clonally propagated crops) is the basis for selection-mediated improvement, and the subsequent development of superior cultivars. Considerable variation among cultivars in their susceptibility to some of the most common storage rots has been reported from observations in orchards and storage rooms [ 3 , 19 , 21 , 40 , 43 , 70 ]. Still, levels of resistance cannot be properly quantified based only on natural infections, since the inocula may vary in both quantity and virulence.…”

“…Tul., Nectria galligena Bres. Nectria rot (apple canker or European canker on trees) [20,50] Penicillium expansum Link Blue mould [3,5,6,12,15,21,25,[31][32][33]38,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66] Phacidiopycnis spp., e.g., P. malorum Potebnia and P. washingtonensis Xiao & J.D. Rogers…”

“…However, fungal decay during storage leads to considerable losses of fruit. The situation is especially serious in low-input production systems (like organic orchards and agroforestry systems), where the fruit cannot be adequately protected by fungicides and losses can amount to 20 times as high as those in conventional orchards [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Grower revenues are often reduced since the fruit must be marketed after a shortened storage period.…”

Incidence of postharvest fungal diseases of apples in integrated fruit production

“…The least affected cultivar was 'Ligol' (0.2-1.3%). Blazek et al [2006], Ivic et al [2012] and Novotny et al [2019] found in their studies that infestation of apples by Monilinia fructigena Aderh. et Ruhl.…”

“…[2011] in Greece demonstrated that B. cinerea is one of the most common (23.6%) pathogens that cause rotting in stored apples. Ivic et al [2012] and Novotny et al [2019] report that B. cinerea infects apples in the ranges of 0.2-0.53% and 0.15-0.35%, respec-tively. This pathogen belongs to the group of fungi that infect fruit through skin defects (wounds).…”