Tomato is a very perishable and highly susceptible to postharvest fungal diseases that cause rotting of the fruits in many parts of the world including Ethiopia. Investigations were conducted to isolate and identify fungal pathogens causing post-harvest rotting of tomato fruits. Samples were collected from stores and markets in Dire Dawa, Harar, Haramaya, and Bate towns and fungal pathogens were isolated and identified. Fourteen different fungal genera were found associated with the evaluated tomato fruits. These were Fusarium spp., Alternaria spp., Saccharomyces spp., A. niger, Geotrichum spp., Penicillium spp., Mucor spp., Phoma spp., Trichoderma spp., Cladosporium spp., Helminthosporium spp., Colletotrichum spp., Rizhoctonia spp., and Diplodia spp. Fusarium spp. had the highest (46.2%) frequency of occurrence, while Trichoderma spp. were the least (0.22%) encountered. Pathogenicity tests revealed that all of the isolated fungi except Trichoderma spp. were pathogenic. Penicillium was the most aggressive genus which produced lesion diameter of 42 mm in five days. A. niger was the least (9.5 mm) aggressive species. Fusarium was identified to species level and F. oxysporium, F. chlamydosporium, F. avenaceum, F. solani, F. acuminatum, and F. sporotrichiodes were recovered. F. oxysporium was the most frequently (54.21%) recorded one, while the lowest (0.93%) was F. acuminatum. Also the highest (28.25 mm) lesion diameter was produced by F. oxysporium, while the least (20 mm) was by F. avenaceum. In conclusion, the study revealed high occurrence and distribution of diverse fungi associated with post-harvest rotting of tomato fruits in eastern Ethiopia. However, further studies are important for identifing the isolated fungal pathogens to species level except fusarium and to develop appropriate manegement options for fruit rotting fungi.
| Published in | American Journal of Plant Biology (Volume 10, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15 |
| Page(s) | 115-120 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Fruit Rot, Lycopersicon Esculentum, Post Harvest
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APA Style
Jemal, A. R. (2025). Fungal Pathogens Associated with Postharvest Rotting of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in Eastern Ethiopia. American Journal of Plant Biology, 10(4), 115-120. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15
ACS Style
Jemal, A. R. Fungal Pathogens Associated with Postharvest Rotting of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in Eastern Ethiopia. Am. J. Plant Biol. 2025, 10(4), 115-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15,
author = {Abdirshikur Reshid Jemal},
title = {Fungal Pathogens Associated with Postharvest Rotting of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in Eastern Ethiopia},
journal = {American Journal of Plant Biology},
volume = {10},
number = {4},
pages = {115-120},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpb.20251004.15},
abstract = {Tomato is a very perishable and highly susceptible to postharvest fungal diseases that cause rotting of the fruits in many parts of the world including Ethiopia. Investigations were conducted to isolate and identify fungal pathogens causing post-harvest rotting of tomato fruits. Samples were collected from stores and markets in Dire Dawa, Harar, Haramaya, and Bate towns and fungal pathogens were isolated and identified. Fourteen different fungal genera were found associated with the evaluated tomato fruits. These were Fusarium spp., Alternaria spp., Saccharomyces spp., A. niger, Geotrichum spp., Penicillium spp., Mucor spp., Phoma spp., Trichoderma spp., Cladosporium spp., Helminthosporium spp., Colletotrichum spp., Rizhoctonia spp., and Diplodia spp. Fusarium spp. had the highest (46.2%) frequency of occurrence, while Trichoderma spp. were the least (0.22%) encountered. Pathogenicity tests revealed that all of the isolated fungi except Trichoderma spp. were pathogenic. Penicillium was the most aggressive genus which produced lesion diameter of 42 mm in five days. A. niger was the least (9.5 mm) aggressive species. Fusarium was identified to species level and F. oxysporium, F. chlamydosporium, F. avenaceum, F. solani, F. acuminatum, and F. sporotrichiodes were recovered. F. oxysporium was the most frequently (54.21%) recorded one, while the lowest (0.93%) was F. acuminatum. Also the highest (28.25 mm) lesion diameter was produced by F. oxysporium, while the least (20 mm) was by F. avenaceum. In conclusion, the study revealed high occurrence and distribution of diverse fungi associated with post-harvest rotting of tomato fruits in eastern Ethiopia. However, further studies are important for identifing the isolated fungal pathogens to species level except fusarium and to develop appropriate manegement options for fruit rotting fungi.},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Fungal Pathogens Associated with Postharvest Rotting of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in Eastern Ethiopia AU - Abdirshikur Reshid Jemal Y1 - 2025/12/29 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15 T2 - American Journal of Plant Biology JF - American Journal of Plant Biology JO - American Journal of Plant Biology SP - 115 EP - 120 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2578-8337 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20251004.15 AB - Tomato is a very perishable and highly susceptible to postharvest fungal diseases that cause rotting of the fruits in many parts of the world including Ethiopia. Investigations were conducted to isolate and identify fungal pathogens causing post-harvest rotting of tomato fruits. Samples were collected from stores and markets in Dire Dawa, Harar, Haramaya, and Bate towns and fungal pathogens were isolated and identified. Fourteen different fungal genera were found associated with the evaluated tomato fruits. These were Fusarium spp., Alternaria spp., Saccharomyces spp., A. niger, Geotrichum spp., Penicillium spp., Mucor spp., Phoma spp., Trichoderma spp., Cladosporium spp., Helminthosporium spp., Colletotrichum spp., Rizhoctonia spp., and Diplodia spp. Fusarium spp. had the highest (46.2%) frequency of occurrence, while Trichoderma spp. were the least (0.22%) encountered. Pathogenicity tests revealed that all of the isolated fungi except Trichoderma spp. were pathogenic. Penicillium was the most aggressive genus which produced lesion diameter of 42 mm in five days. A. niger was the least (9.5 mm) aggressive species. Fusarium was identified to species level and F. oxysporium, F. chlamydosporium, F. avenaceum, F. solani, F. acuminatum, and F. sporotrichiodes were recovered. F. oxysporium was the most frequently (54.21%) recorded one, while the lowest (0.93%) was F. acuminatum. Also the highest (28.25 mm) lesion diameter was produced by F. oxysporium, while the least (20 mm) was by F. avenaceum. In conclusion, the study revealed high occurrence and distribution of diverse fungi associated with post-harvest rotting of tomato fruits in eastern Ethiopia. However, further studies are important for identifing the isolated fungal pathogens to species level except fusarium and to develop appropriate manegement options for fruit rotting fungi. VL - 10 IS - 4 ER -
Department of Plant Science, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Ethiopia
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