Decay due to fungal infection is a major cause of postharvest losses in fruits. Acidic fungi may enhance their virulence by locally reducing the pH of the host. Several devastating postharvest fungi, such as Penicillium spp., Botrytis cinerea, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, can secrete gluconic acid, oxalic acid, or citric acid. Emerging evidence suggests that organic acids secreted by acidic fungi are important virulence factors. In this review, we summarized the research progress on the biosynthesis of organic acids, the role of the pH signalling transcription factor PacC in regulating organic acid, and the action mechanism of the main organic acid secreted via postharvest pathogenic fungi during infection of host tissues. This paper systematically demonstrates the relationships between tissue acidification and postharvest fungal pathogenicity, which will motivate the study of host–pathogen interactions and provide a better understanding of virulence mechanisms of the pathogens so as to design new technical strategies to prevent postharvest diseases.

Rhizopus stolonifer is one of the main pathogens in postharvest storage logistics of more than 100 kinds of fruit, such as strawberries, tomatoes and melons. In this paper, the research on the morphology and detection, pathogenicity and infection mechanism of Rhizopus stolonifer was reviewed. The control methods of Rhizopus stolonifer in recent years was summarized from three dimensions of physics, chemistry and biology, including the nanomaterials, biological metabolites, light control bacteria, etc. Future direction of postharvest Rhizopus stolonifer infection control was analyzed from two aspects of pathogenic mechanism research and new composite technology. The information provided in this review will help researchers and technicians to deepen their understanding of the pathogenicity of Rhizopus stolonifer, and develop more effective control methods in the future.

Three walnut (Juglans regia L.) drying methods (sun drying, direct oven drying, and intermittent oven drying) were employed, and the consequent changes in lipid oxidation attributes, such as acid value (AV), peroxide value (POV), saponification value (SV), fatty acid composition, and antioxidant activity [including reducing power, superoxide anion scavenging activity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity (DPPH), lipoxygenase (LOX) activity, total phenols content (TPC), and total flavonoids content (TFC)] were investigated in this study. Sun drying resulted in the highest AV, POV, and SV, followed by direct oven drying and intermittent oven drying. Antioxidant activities and related compounds, TPC and TFC, were initially increased and then declined during drying, and a significant correlation was found between antioxidant activity and TPC and TFC. The LOX activities of all samples showed an increasing trend, although those of the sun-dried samples were the lowest. The walnuts dried with the intermittent oven drying method contained more linoleic acid than those dried by direct oven drying. Overall, intermittent oven drying appears to be a promising strategy for fresh walnut drying.