POST HARVEST DISEASES OF CHILLI

Black ripe rot (C.O.-Alternaria alternate) Black ripe rot due to A. alternata is a field disease but causes appreciable additional loss during transit and storage. This disease occurs throughout the year but is most serious during the post rainy season. The lesions are well defined, first appear as small, circular, grayish green watersoaked, sometimes sunken spots anywhere on the fruit. The spots gradually enlarge, become tends to mouldy brown and are covered by a scanty mycelium or a velvety green sporulating mass. The seeds also become black but there is no skin crack. The infected fruit becomes less pungent. Brown rot (C.o. Ceratocystis paradoxa) This is an uncommon rot on ripe chilli resembling the black ripe rot. An infected fruit shows brown to deep brown and depressed discolouration with brown sporulating colony. It becomes soft, the sporulating area advances and may cover the entire fruit emitting characteristics smell. Infection spreads by contact. Anthracnose (c.o.- Colletotrichum capsici state of Glomerella cingulata) Anthracnose is a common disease of chilli causing damage both in field and storage. This disease is prevalent throughout the year and is common on semi ripe to ripe fruits appearing as small, watersoaked, circular and sunken spots. They enlarge gradually with dirty brown to black centre later turning into straw and blackish brown advancing margin and a straw coloured centre with black setae erupting the fruit skin. Under humid conditions, creamy pink spore masses can be noticed along with the sparse grey black mycelium. Soft rot (c.o.-Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, F. diversisporum) Soft rot is a common disease both in India and abroad. It is generally noticed all round the year on both green and ripe chillies but green chillies suffer more. Infection starts mostly from the stylar end as small, watersoaked, brownish area with scanty mycelial growth on the surface. Rotten fruit becomes soft and leaks milky juice, emitting an offensive smell. Under high humid condition, fluffy mycelial cottony growth fully covers the fruit surface. Infection due to F. solani and F. diversisporum turns the whole fruit soft and yellow within two days. High humidity favours the disease.

Tomato Black rot of tomato (c.o.- Alternaria alternata) Black rot of tomato is widespread in markets. Typical symptoms consist of brown to black spots measuring up to about 1.5-3 cm in diameter, which may be sunken and with or without any definite border. The neighbouring spots coalese becoming ivory black and the inner issues soft and dark brown to black with cylindrical dry core. Under humid conditions, dense velvety olive green or black spore mass within a dark grey superficial mouldy growth may also develop on the lesions or at the site of growth cracks. Infected fruits are devoid of any bad odour. Yellow mould rot (c.o. Aspergillus flavus) This is a minor disease occurring only on ripe, over matured or injured fruits during December to April and has been reported from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The rot starts initially as small watersoaked pots. They rapidly increase in size, rupturing the skin and leaking out a juice emitting a fermentative smell. The fruit becomes insipid. On the surface as well as inside, greenish yellow fungal sporulation can be observed. Black mould rot (c.o. Aspergillus niger) Black mould rot of tomato is widerspraed in India and has been reported from Delhi, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. The disease has been found only on ripe and semi ripe but injured fruits. The infected fruits show brown to black, circular spots surrounded by a watersoaked zone. On the surface, black conidial heads appear on the open lesion, the tissues become soft emitting a bad smell. The disease is favoured by temperatures around 380C. Woolly black rot (c.o. Myrothecium roridum) It is a minor disease long known in the USA. It has also been described in India from Uttar Pradesh. This disease appears as a small, irregular or circular, slightly depressed brown spots, turning black up to about 1-2 cm in diameter, over which copious woolly fungal growth with dark green to black zone of sporodochia with viscid spore mass appears as mucilaginous substance. Infected area becomes moderately soft and cracks develop

from the centre. The rotting is deep but the infected tissues can be easily scraped out from within the healthy areas. Sunken black spot (c.o. Phoma destructiva) This is a serius disease in the USA. In India, it has been reported from Punjab Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal. The disease occurs during January February and is characterized by typical, small, slightly sunken, brownish spots at the edge of the stem scar, enlarging rapidly and becoming circular or elliptical, 0.5-1.5 cm in diameter and somewhat watersoaked, with light brown outer border. Later, the spots turn black or ashy grey, sunken, leathery, but firm with pycnidia can be noticed. The pulp becomes brown to black but remains firm unless invaded by secondary organisms. Soft rot (c.o. Rhizopus arrhizus, R. rhizopodiformis, R. stolonifer) This rot due to R. stolonifer may occur anywhere in the world except under extreme climatic situations. It is one of the worst postharvest diseases of ripe tomato. Infection appears at any place but more so at cracks or injured areas. The lesions are usually large, somewhat distended, with out discolouration, soft and watersoaked. The rot rapidly goes deep but the skin often remains intact. Later, however, the fruits tend to crack and leak juice with fermentative odour and is covered by stringy mycelial growth with abundant sporulation over and inside the fruit surface. In the case of R. rhizopodiformis, the infected area is initially firm but subsequently soft with darker mycelial mass and slower rotting. In the case of R. stolonifer the infected area is always soft, mycelial mass brown and rotting faster.