Harvest and postharvest brown rot of fruit in relation to early latent infection caused by Monilinia spp. in Hungary

In Europe, brown rot in peaches and sour cherry is caused by mainly Monilinia laxa and M. fructigena (Holb, 2003ab). A third species, M. fructicola has also threat the European continent. These fungi cause losses by infecting blossom, flowers, and fruit during the preharvest, harvest, and postharvest periods (Xu & Robinson, 2000; Holb, 2003a, Holb & Schnabel, 2005). Postharvest losses are typically more severe, especially when conditions are favourable for disease development (Hong et al. 1998, Larena et al. 2005, Gell et al., 2008). The most important cause of postharvest brown rot in peaches and sour cherries is M. laxa and M. fructigena in Hungary (Holb, 2003a). Conidia of both species produced mainly from overwintered fruit mummies and act as primary inoculum sources (Byrde & Willetts 1977; Batra, 1991). When conditions are unfavourable, infections may remain latent until conditions become favourable for disease expression, at which point fruit rot ensues (Byrde & Willetts 1977). Fruit growth stage also plays an important role in disease expression (Luo et al. 2001a; Xu et al. 2007; Gell et al., 2008). Latent infections caused by M. laxa have been detected in nectarines and plums (Fourie & Holz 2003a; Gell et al., 2008). Xu et al. (2007) showed a high correlation between the incidence of caused by M. laxa and M. fructigena and latent infection in cherries. Several authors showed the same relationships for M. fructicola in immature plum and nectarine (Emery et al. 2000; Luo & Michailides 2001; Northover & Cerkauskas 1994). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of early latent infection caused by Monilina spp. on harvest and postharvest brown rot of sour cherry and peach.