PATULIN AND OTHER METABOLITES PRODUCED BY FUNGI IN PEARS

The fungi Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus flavus, Stemphylium vesicarium and Alternaria alternate were used for possible detection of metabolites in the flesh of pear fruits of the cultivar Abbé Fétel.
Infected fruits were allowed to develop 10-mm-diameter lesions.
Each pear was split longitudinally in the middle of lesions and was divided into four sections, from tissues below the lesions (first section) to tissues around the carpel area (fourth section). The thickness of each section was 5 mm.
Patulin was detected in the flesh of pears when inoculated with P. expansum, S. vesicarium and A. alternate, but not with A. flavus. Mycotoxin concentrations surpassed the accepted maximum residue limit (MRL) in all sections, even in apparently healthy tissues.
In addition, 47 unidentified substances were also detected in the samples from the different sections.
Some of them presented phytotoxic activity on the first leaves of bean plants and some were inhibitors of the growth of Escherichia coli HB101. This is the first report of patulin diffusion and other metabolite production at different depths in the flesh of pear fruits.

VIII International Symposium on Pear

L.A. Laidou, C.C. Thanassoulopoulos, M. Liakopoulou-Kyriakides

Abbé Fétel, flesh, phytotoxic, Escherichia coli

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.596.94