Isolation and identification of fungi associated with strawberry fruits collected from three local markets in Al-Bayda City, Libya

Abstract

Strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa) are a fruit crop of high nutritional value and significant economic importance, cultivated worldwide. However, they are susceptible to fruit rot, leading to substantial crop and economic losses. This study was conducted to isolate the fungi associated with strawberries. Strawberry samples were collected from local markets in the city of Al-Bayda. The isolation was carried out by the agar plate method on PDA medium at 28 ^oC following a period  of incubation. Strawberries sterilized with sodium hypochlorite and non-sterilized strawberries were used. The isolated fungi were identified depending on some characteristic morphologically  such as colony characters include shape, size, color, surface texture, size and reverse of the colony/bottom of the colony. and microscopically such as the shape of conidia, conidiophores and septate hyphae (septate) and aseptate hyphae (non-septate). In this study, the results indicated that the fungi identified from the tested strawberries were as follows: Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium chlamydosporium, Penicillium crustosum and Rhizopus sp. The strawberries contained a higher percentage of contaminated fungi due to their high moisture content, which reached 85.7%. Therefore, it is essential to monitor moisture levels to prevent fungal growth.