Internal Yellowing, a Bacterial Disease of Papaya Fruits Caused by Enterobacter cloacae. Kate A. Nishijima, USDA, ARS, Tropical Fruit and Vegetable Research Laboratory, Hilo, HI 96720. H. Melvin Couey, and Anne M. Alvarez. USDA, ARS, Tropical Fruit and Vegetable Research Laboratory, Hilo, HI 96720, and University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822. Plant Dis. 71:1029-1034. Accepted for publication 5 May 1987. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1987. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-1029.

A disease of papaya fruits was observed in Hawaii in fully ripe fruits that was characterized by soft, yellow, discolored flesh with diffuse margins and an offensive odor. The causal bacterium was isolated repeatedly from diseased fruit, hot-water treatment tanks, papaya flowers, and the crop and stomach of the oriental fruit fly (Dacus dorsalis). On the basis of biochemical and physiological characteristics, the bacterium was identified as Enterobacter cloacae. Fruits became increasingly susceptible to E. cloacae as they ripened. Hot-water-treated fruits had lower disease incidence than untreated fruits.