Volume 46, Issue 12 e16881
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effects of fruit tissue pH value on the Penicillium expansum growth, patulin accumulation and distribution

Min Wang

Min Wang

College of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, People's Republic of China

Search for more papers by this author
Yamin Du

Yamin Du

College of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, People's Republic of China

Search for more papers by this author
Wenxiao Jiao

Wenxiao Jiao

College of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, People's Republic of China

Search for more papers by this author
Maorun Fu

Corresponding Author

Maorun Fu

College of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, People's Republic of China

Correspondence

Maorun Fu, College of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, People's Republic of China.

Email: [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 27 June 2022
Citations: 5

Min Wang and Yamin Du contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

pH is an important environmental factor for the virulence of fungi. To explore the effect of tissue pH on the diffusion behavior of Penicillium expansum and patulin, pear (pH 4.98), apple (pH 3.72) and kiwifruit (pH 3.31) were selected to inoculate P. expansum. When the diameter of the lesion was 1 cm or 2 cm, tissues within a certain distance (0, 1, 2, and 3 cm) from the lesion were sampled. Results showed that low pH could inhibit the growth of P. expansum and hinder patulin accumulation in the decayed parts. The quantity of P. expansum was 1.99 × 105 CFU/g and patulin content was 13.84 mg/kg in pear, which were 6.86 times and 92.89 times of that in kiwi-fruit (lesion diameter 2 cm). In addition, the P. expansum colonies and patulin content decreased with the distance from the lesion, but there was no correlation between tissue pH and patulin distribution.

Novelty impact statement

  • Low fruit tissue pH (pH < 4.98 ± 0.08) would inhibit the growth of Penicillium expansum and hinder the accumulation of patulin in the decayed parts.
  • The pH value of the fruit tissue affects the diffusion behavior of P. expansum and patulin in different decayed fruits.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.