Postharvest decay of mandarin fruit in Serbia caused by Penicillium expansum

Abstract

Mandarin fruits are one of the most popular among the Citrus genus. They are consumed because of their nutritional and health benefits, as well as pleasant taste and smell. This paper describes the identification and characterization of Penicillium expansum, isolated from molded mandarin fruits. The obtained isolates were cultivated on five media [Czapek Yeast Autolysate agar (CYA), MEA (Malt extract agar), Creatine sucrose agar (CREA), Yeast extract sucrose agar (YES), and Oatmeal agar (OA)] and at five different incubation temperatures (5, 15, 25, 30, and 37 °C). Isolates were sequenced for two molecular loci: internal transcribed spacer and beta-tubulin. Based on the results from morphological, physiological, molecular, and phylogenetic analyses, the recovered isolates were identified as P. expansum. The isolated species was confirmed as pathogenic to mandarin fruits in a pathogenicity test. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of P. expansum as a postharvest pathogen of mandarin fruit in Serbia.