A Study of Pathogenic Fungi Causing Post Harvest Losses of Pineapple Sold at Wudil and Yan Lemo Markets of Kano State
S. M. Yahaya *
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
A. B. Kamalu
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
M. U. Ali
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
M. Lawan
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
Y. S. Ajingi
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
M. Haruna
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
L. W. Hayatu
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
H. Abba
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
I. Safiyanu
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
J. Abdullahi
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
A. Y. Mardiyya
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
S. B. Sakina
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
M. I. Hassan
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
A. I. Sale
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
A. Bilkisu
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
M. Umma
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
T. Aisha
Department of Biology, Kano State University of Technology (KUST), Wudil, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This research was conducted to determine the fungal pathogens responsible for post harvest losses of pineapple sold at Wudil and Yen lemo markets. Two samples of pineapples were purchased twice a week from both Wudil and Yanlemo markets for four months. The samples were investigated for the presence of fungal pathogen using standard microbiological methods. The methods involve mounting small portion of pineapple in the plate containing Potato dextrose agar to isolate the fungi. Three fungal pathogens belonging to Aspergillus species were isolated, and Aspergillus niger had the highest frequency of occurrence of (50%). Followed by A. flavus with (27%). The A. fumigatus had the lowest frequency of occurrence of (23%). The differences between the fungal isolates recorded were significantly different (P<0.05) between the two markets, where higher fungal isolates were recorded at Yanlemo market 159 (40.6%) and Wudil 38 (9.71%). The study showed that the post harvest losses of pine apple in the two markets are attributed to fungal infection. Therefore, safe guarding the two markets from debris and dumps of rotten fruits and vegetable may assist in reducing fungal inoculums in the two markets.
Keywords: Fungi, post harvest, incidence, Wudil, Yan lemo.