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.
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.
