BACTERIAL ROT OF STORED MANGOES
Not such has however been reported about storage decays caused by bacteria. Patel et al (3) reported the occurrence of a bacterial disease, the symptoms of which were similar to the black spot disease caused by Bacillus mangiferae in South Africa. But the pathogen appeared to be different and was named Pseudomonas mangiferae indicae sp. nov. (3). The pathogen affected both the leaves and fruits and in advanced stage of infection on the fruits produced deep, longitudinal cracks, accompanied by heavy gummy exudation. Artificially infected fruits showed at first water-soaked areas which later turned black. A soft rot of mango fruit caused by Bacterium caratovorum has also been reported (5, 9). Ramakrishnan and Srivastava (6) report that a bacterial disease similar to the one prevalent in South Africa is stated to be Erwinia mangiferae, but the symptoms are similar, viz., deep cracks, tear stains and black spots accompanied by exudation of gummy fluid. A soft rot of ripe fruits in storage caused byErwinia caratovora(syn.-Bacterium caratovorum) is also reported to occur in India. The authors also suggest the use of antibiotics for effective control of bacterial diseases.
This paper presents the widespread occurrence of a bacterial rot of stored mangoes. The fruits of varieties Bangalora and Neelum were obtained from Fruit Research Station, Kanyakumari, and were used for storage studies at Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore, at three temperature levels, room temperature (84–90°F), 40–45°F and 45–55°F.
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1972.24.39
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1972.24.39