LAUSR

Custard apple is a perennial tropical plant cultivated in Brazil for it fresh consumed fruit, which is commercially sold all over the country. Custard apple is a climacteric fruit so it is harvested and commercialized at an early maturation stage; therefore it must be incubated for a few days to ensure ripening and consumption. Although it can be found in the market throughout the year, its production peaks during May to July in Northeast Brazil. In June 2016, in Aracoiaba County, Ceara State, Brazil, a fungal fruit rot was observed on approximately 20% of fruits within stored containers for wholesale market. Rotten fruits were taken to the Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Embrapa to isolate the causal agent. Externally, symptoms were darkening of the grooves, beginning in the peduncle. The lesions expanded rapidly, reaching the entire fruit within two to three days. Internally, there was discoloration of the pulp, invading the whole fruit. Upon complete infection, which takes approximately ten days, the wh...