VIEW ARTICLE

Etiology

Field Induction of Pineapple Interfruitlet Corking, Leathery Pocket, and Fruitlet Core Rot with Penicillium funiculosum. K. G. Rohrbach, Associate Plant Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822; J. B. Pfeiffer, Research Associate, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822. Phytopathology 66:392-395. Accepted for publication 27 October 1975. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-66-392.

Two pineapple cultivars were inoculated in the field with 1 × 10⁷ spores/ml of Penicillium funiculosum at 1, 4, and 7 weeks following chemically forced flowering. Infection induced interfruitlet corking, leathery pocket, fruitlet core rot, and inhibition of fruitlet enlargement. The latter accounted for significant reductions in fruit size in cultivar A but not in cultivar Smooth Cayenne. Inoculation at 10 weeks induced disease symptoms only in Smooth Cayenne. No insect associations were noted.