Incidence of Pre-Harvest and Post-Harvest Diseases of Strawberry Fruit in Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

In Plateau State, strawberry (Fragariaananassa Duch.) is emerging as an economically important commercial fruit crop, providing and improving the nutrition of the local people, whose diet generally consisted of starch staples lacking essential vitamin and minerals. Despite these benefits, strawberry like most fruits, are prone to fungal spoilage, causing several economically important diseases/rots likeanthracnose, soft rot, black rot and gray mold at both pre- and post-harvest stages. Strawberry fruits are delicate and succulent, and after harvest they can commonly undergo fungal spoilage. Annual reports have shown that 20% of fruits and vegetables produced are lost to spoilage; and Strawberry fruits are not exception. To assess the prevalence of the diseases, a comprehensive survey was carried out in 8 strawberry growing districts of Plateau State viz. 4 farms (Vom, Kuru, Bisichi and Lamingo) and 4 markets (Farin-Gada, Terminus, Vwang and Kuru) in Plateau State, Nigeria. This study was undertaken to isolate and identify the fungi that are associated with contamination of strawberry at pre- and postharvest stages commonly in Jos metropolis, Plateau State using standard microbiological methods. The data collected were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics (frequency and mean) and analysis of variance (P<0.05). Twelve (12) fungi isolates were identified viz: Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Colletotrichum Gloeosporioides, Schizosaccharomyces Pombe, Penicillium Myriotylum, Mucorspp, Geotrichum Candidum, Botrytis cinerea, Fusariumspp, Alternaria Alternata and  Rhizopus Stolonifer. Most of the fungi species were identified with varying percentage prevalence across the markets; Colletotrichum Gloeosporioides had the highest 18(15.0%) frequency of occurrence followed by Fusariumspp 15 (12.5%), Botrytis cinerea 13(12.8%) and G. candidum had the least 4(3.33%). This is the first ever detailed findings of its kind about the incidence of strawberry disease along with its distribution and characterization in Jos, Plateau State. The main strawberry pathogens associated with the strawberry fruit rots in this study are of economical and public health significance. Thus, management strategy must be taken through improved technology-based preservation methods that target in keeping the quality of strawberry fruit from farms, handling, transportation and storage.