Diseases, Physiological Disorders, and Injuries of Plums Marketed in Metropolitan New York. J. M. WELLS, Research Plant Pathologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118. J. E. BUTTERFIELD, Biological Research Technician, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118; and M. J. CEPONIS, Research Plant Pathologist, retired, USDA-ARS, Department of Plant Pathology, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.I 08903. Plant Dis. 78:642-644. Accepted for publication 6 January 1994. 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, 1994. DOI: 10.1094/PD-78-0642.

Retail and consumer losses in nine major cultivars of western plums marketed in metropolitan New York and sampled for 15 consecutive weeks during the 1983 and 1984 seasons averaged 4.2 and 5.0%, respectively, for a total market loss of 9.2%. Specific causes were parasitic diseases (3.4%), physiological disorders (2.1%), and injuries (3.7%). Total losses were higher in the cultivars Casselman and President than in Red Beaut, Santa Rosa, Eldorado, Simka, Friar, Italian Prune, and Angelino. In a sample of three of the cultivars in 1992, total consumer losses were 4.7%, statistically unchanged from 1983-1984 levels. The principal disease in both surveys was brown rot (Monilinia spp), which caused up to 50% of the disease losses. Dehydrated and overripe fruit were the leading categories of physiological disorders; and bruising, cuts, punctures, and freeze damage were the chief categories of injury loss.