Studies on postharvest diseases of vegetables and fruits of three markets in Warangal town, Telangana state, India

Vegetable and Fruit (VF) production is an emerging horticulture sub-sector in India even though, almost one-third of the produced VF is lost before reaching the plate. VF postharvest losses in India range from 40 to 70%, depending on a crop. Lack of postharvest management skills and techniques such as temperature control to maintain the cold chain, value addition, and packaging have caused several economic and food security setbacks among them are high levels of poverty, hidden hunger and malnutrition.

Post-harvest deterioration of Potato (Solanum tuberosum) Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill), Carrot (Daucus carota) Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea). Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L var botrytis). Pineapple (Ananas comosus), Papaya (Carica papaya) Grapes (Vitis vinifera) Lemon (Citrus lemon) and from three selected markets in Warangal District, was studied. Both healthy and diseased samples were collected from the selected markets. Nine fungal species : Alternaria Species, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Curvularia, Fusarium, Mucor, Penicillium, Phytophthora and Rhozopus species were found associated with deteriorating Vegetable & Fruits (VF) of S. tuberosum, L. esculentum, D. carota, B. oleracea, Brassica oleracea L var botrytis, A. comosus, C. papaya, V. vinifera and C. lemon. All isolated fungi were pathogenic to the different fruits when pathogenicity tests were carried out.