Postharvest microbial diversity on major cultivars of Indian mangoes

S.N. Jha, Pranita Jaiswal, K. Narsaiah, Rishi Bhardwaj, Poonam Preet Kaur, Ashish Kumar Singh, Rajiv Sharma and R. Kumar

Agricultural Structures and Environmental Control Division, Central Institute of Postharvest Engineering & Technology, Ludhiana 141004, India.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2012.v14i02.20

Key words: Bacteria, biochemical, diversity, filamentous fungi, mango, relative abundance
Abstract: Microbial diversity on fruit surface of nine mango cultivars (Alphonso, Banganapalli, Chausa, Dashehri, Kesar, Langra, Mallika, Maldah and Neelam) harvested from orchards of nine Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh) were studied using standard methods. A total of 47 fungal and 123 bacterial isolates were purified from 761 mango samples, which included 63 Gram positive and 60 Gram negative bacterial isolates. The relative abundance of Gram positive, Gram negative bacteria and different filamentous fungi varied among cultivars. Gram positive bacteria dominated on Langra of Uttar Pradesh, while Dashehri from Punjab showed dominance of Gram negative bacteria. Among total fungal isolates, the common genera were Aspergillus and Fusarium, while among bacterial isolates, the most common genera were Bacillus, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Lactobacillus, Citrobacter, Mycobacterium and Serratia. Alphonso and Kesar variety from Maharashtra showed maximum and minimum fungal diversity, respectively. Genera and species identified include members known for spoilage of fruits; having all types of pectinase and cellulase activities and those used in biocontrol of plant pathogens.



Journal of Applied Horticulture