I Do Not Believe in Ghosts
Rhizopus Rot of Jackfruit
Scot Nelson
Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences he plant genus Artocarpus comprises roughly 50 species of tropical trees native to the Pacific and
South and Southeast Asia, several of which produce edible fruit. Jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus, is a popu- lar garden species prized for its edible flowers, fruit, and seeds for fresh consumption or cooking. Jackfruit trees can reach over 60 ft in height and bear fruit that can be 2 feet or more long and weigh as much as 70 pounds.
Rhizopus rot is a common fungal disease of jackfruit flowers and fruit. Rot is more likely to occur in high-rainfall areas or during and after stormy periods.
When
warm, humid, wet weather coincides with the flowering and fruiting season, rhizopus rot can cause total loss of fruit in jackfruit trees.
*
Plant Disease
Symptoms
At first, soft, watery, brown spots develop on the flowers and fruit. Subsequently, a powdery, fuzzy-looking mass of black spores and white fungal mycelia covers the jackfruit surface. The pathogen engulfs the young fruit, resulting in the characteristic black, rotten, shrunken, and sometimes mummified fruit remains. Fruit symptoms can appear on the tree or can develop on fruit that are in storage or transit.
Cause
Three species of plant-pathogenic fungi of the genus
Rhizopus can cause this disease in the tropics: Rhizopus oryzae, Rhizopus artocarpi, and Rhizopus stolonifer. No
Left: a healthy, maturing jackfruit; center and right: young jackfruits with rhizopus rot.
*According to observations by personnel at the UH-CTAHR Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center.
July 2005
PD-29
UH–CTAHR Rhizopus Rot of Jackfruit PD-29 — July 2005 jackfruit varieties are reported to have significant resistance to the disease.
Epidemiology
Warm, humid, rainy conditions favor the development of rhizopus rot. Wind, rain, and insects dislodge and spread the tiny fungal spores. When deposited
Scot Nelson
Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences he plant genus Artocarpus comprises roughly 50 species of tropical trees native to the Pacific and
South and Southeast Asia, several of which produce edible fruit. Jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus, is a popu- lar garden species prized for its edible flowers, fruit, and seeds for fresh consumption or cooking. Jackfruit trees can reach over 60 ft in height and bear fruit that can be 2 feet or more long and weigh as much as 70 pounds.
Rhizopus rot is a common fungal disease of jackfruit flowers and fruit. Rot is more likely to occur in high-rainfall areas or during and after stormy periods.
When
warm, humid, wet weather coincides with the flowering and fruiting season, rhizopus rot can cause total loss of fruit in jackfruit trees.
*
Plant Disease
Symptoms
At first, soft, watery, brown spots develop on the flowers and fruit. Subsequently, a powdery, fuzzy-looking mass of black spores and white fungal mycelia covers the jackfruit surface. The pathogen engulfs the young fruit, resulting in the characteristic black, rotten, shrunken, and sometimes mummified fruit remains. Fruit symptoms can appear on the tree or can develop on fruit that are in storage or transit.
Cause
Three species of plant-pathogenic fungi of the genus
Rhizopus can cause this disease in the tropics: Rhizopus oryzae, Rhizopus artocarpi, and Rhizopus stolonifer. No
Left: a healthy, maturing jackfruit; center and right: young jackfruits with rhizopus rot.
*According to observations by personnel at the UH-CTAHR Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center.
July 2005
PD-29
UH–CTAHR Rhizopus Rot of Jackfruit PD-29 — July 2005 jackfruit varieties are reported to have significant resistance to the disease.
Epidemiology
Warm, humid, rainy conditions favor the development of rhizopus rot. Wind, rain, and insects dislodge and spread the tiny fungal spores. When deposited
References: Morton, J. 1987. Jackfruit. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL. p. 59–64. Sangchote, S., J. Wright, and G. Johnson. 2003. Dis- eases of breadfruit, jackfruit and related crops. In: R.C. Ploetz (ed.), Diseases of tropical crops. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxon, UK. p. 135–145