Molds Associated with Olive Fruits Infested with Olive Fruit Fly, Bactrocera oleae and Their Effects on Some Oil Quality Traits
Nofal S. Al-Ameiri1, Muwaffaq R. Karajeh1 and Samer Y. Qaraleh2
Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences (JJBS)
2015.
Olive is the most widely grown fruit tree in Jordan that is annually attacked by olive fruit fly, Bactrocera Oleae (Rossi) whose larvae cause great economic losses in fruit yield. Alternaria solani, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium herbarum, Fusarium solani, Penicillium digitatum, P. italicum and Rhizopus stolonifer were found associated with the fly infestation with sample frequency ranged from 6.7-33.3 %. Penicillium digitatum was the most dominant species. All molds were vulnerable for hot water treatment at 50 and 70ºC as indicated by their low spore germination and colony-forming unit except P. digitatum and P. italicum were the most heat-tolerant. When, olive oil was inoculated with pure cultures of these molds, the mold fungi were able to colonize olive oil. Rhizopus stolonifer was the greatest colonizer and besides Alternaria solani had obviously reduced the oil peroxide value over the control without greatly affecting the oil free fatty acid content.
