VIEW ARTICLE

Ecology and Epidemiology

Epidemiology of Pink Disease of Pineapple Fruit. R. B. Hine, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721; Phytopathology 66:323-327. Accepted for publication 30 September 1975. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-66-323.

Pink disease of pineapple fruit is caused by strains of acetic acid bacteria. There are no external symptoms but, during the canning process, infected fruit develop a brownish-pink discoloration on heating. In the Philippines, the disease is rare except during August, September and October when disease incidence was 3.9%, 10.2%, and 3.6%, respectively (10-year average). High disease incidence in fruit harvested and canned in September takes place only when flowering in May and June occurs during wet weather (>25 cm of rain per month) preceded by 3-4 months of dry weather (<9 cm of rain per month). This hypothesis may also apply in Hawaii when dry, summer stress conditions, followed by wet-blooming cycles in November and December, lead to high disease incidence in March.