Storage Rot of California-Grown Kiwifruit. D. C. Opgenorth, Plant Pathologist, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento 95814. Plant Dis. 67:382-383. Accepted for publication 7 September 1982. Copyright 1983 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-67-382.

Storage rot of kiwifruit grown in California was reported from several packinghouses. Botyrtis cinerea, Alternaria sp., and Penicillium sp. were routinely isolated from softened internal portions of the fruit. When healthy kiwifruits were inoculated, the suspected pathogens were reisolated after 8 wk, but only B. cinerea and Penicillium sp. produced a soft rot at low temperatures. Only B. cinerea, however, was able to incite the characteristic disease symptoms.