STUDIES ON GLOEOSPORIUM MUSARUM CKE. AND MASSEE CAUSING STORAGE ROTS OF JAMAICAN BANANAS

Experimental inoculations indicate that several factors may influence the extent to which anthracnose, caused by Gloeosporium musarum, develops on bananas following wound-infection. Severity of disease increases with increasing 'grade' of maturity, 'full' fruit being more seriously affected than 'thin' fruit. The evidence suggests that Gros Michel fruit is less susceptible to this form of rot than fruit of the Lacatan or Robusta varieties. The amount of Gloeosporium-rot on fruit imported into the United Kingdom undergoes marked seasonal variation, being greatest during autumn and winter. The presence of perforated 'Polythene' bags during cold storage (55 degrees F.) appears to favour slightly the development of disease. Bagging had no significant effect on rotting during the subsequent ripening period. After wound-inoculation, disease incidence and severity decreased appreciably with increasing periods of storage at tropical temperatures (76-87 degrees F.). Such a decrease was evident even when the humidity at the surface of the fruit was maintained at a high level (92-1005). In several shipping trials, a post-harvest fruit-dip treatment with nystatin (200-400 p.p.m.) effected 40-705 control of anthracnose.