Postharvest Biology and Technology 24 (2002) 197 – 200 Research Note Postharvest fungal rots of sapote mamey Pouteria sapota (Jacq.) H.E. Moore & Stearn S. Bautista-Ban ˜os a, *, J.C. Dı ´az-Pe ´rez b , L.L. Barrera-Necha a a Centro de Desarrollo de Productos Bio ´ticos. Carr. Yautepec -Jojutla, km. 8.5. Yautepec Mor. 62731, Mexico b Department of Horticulture, Coastal Plain Experiment Station, Uniersity of Georgia P.O. Box 748, Tifton, GA 31794, USA Received 30 August 2000; accepted 7 June 2001 Abstract Sapote mamey is an important tropical fruit of Mexico. However during the harvest season high incidence of postharvest fungi are present. Isolations of infected fruit in 1998 and 1999 indicated Pestalotia and Botryodiplodia as the main postharvest fungi. Percentage infection significantly varied according to harvest date for both 1998 and 1999. In 1988 percentage infection decreased from 65% to 20% as fruit ripening increased while in 1999 fruit infection varied from 100% to 10%. Infection caused by Botryodiplodia was more frequent. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Calocarpum sapota (Jacq.); Calocarpum mammosum (Jacq.); Pestalotia ; Botryodiplodia ; Sapote-mamey www.elsevier.com/locate/postharvbio 1. Introduction Sapote mamey, Pouteria sapota (Jacq.) H.E. Moore & Stearn, is a native tropical fruit from Southern Mexico and Central America (Popenoe, 1974). The native indians of Mexico named the fruit tezontzapotl in the nahuatl language mean- ing, fruit with rough appearance and sweet flavour (Martı ´nez, 1959). In Mexico, this fruit is produced in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz and Morelos. Cultivation is mainly in family orchards, interplanted with other crops such as banana plantain, mango and coffee (Campos-Herna ´ndez, 1985). The high nutrient composition (carbohydrates, 311 g kg -l pulp and carotenoids, 1.15 g kg -l pulp) (Leung and Flores, 1978; Godoy and Rodriguez-Amaya, 1994) as well as the sweet flavour and appealing deep orange color of this fruit, make it greatly appreci- ated among the Mexican population. Although some fruit are processed for ice creams, baked goods, marmalades, perfumery and other prod- ucts, most of the production is sold in the fresh market. However, growers indicate that once the fruit begins to ripen, while showing no external signs of the disease a great percentage develops an internal rot of the edible flesh, that is white but turns to a deep black as ripening progresses. Thus, fruit develop symptoms of decay often the consumer has acquired them. The objective of this work was to isolate and identify the causal agents of this internal rot. * Corresponding author. 0925-5214/02/$ - see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0925-5214(01)00138-7