Influence of Oxygen Concentrations on Chinese Chestnuts and Their Spoilage Organisms. S. M. McCarter, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. S. J. Kays, Associate Professor, Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens 30602; J. A. Payne, Research Entomologist, Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory, SEA, USDA, Byron, GA 31008; and F. M. Shokes, Graduate Student, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, Athens. Plant Dis. 64:471-475. Copyright 1980 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-64-471.

Members of the genera Phoma, Fusarium, Paecilomyces, Candida, Diplodia, Penicillium, Pestalotia, Phomopsis, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Gloeosporium, Trichoderma, Rhizopus, Curvularia, Gliocladium, and Trichothecium and bacteria (mainly Bacillus spp.) were isolated from chestnuts at harvest or during storage. Aspergillus spp. were isolated infrequently, but some isolates produced appreciable amounts of aflatoxin. Nuts stored in a 2% O₂ atmosphere deteriorated less rapidly and yielded fewer fungi when plated than those stored at 21% O₂. Nuts that were not fully mature at harvest deteriorated more rapidly than mature nuts. Four Fusarium spp., Phoma sp., and Pestalotia sp. grew 22–68% slower in vitro at 2% than at 21% O₂. Sporulation was also markedly reduced at low O₂. Diplodia sp. was not affected greatly by O₂ level.