The apple is one of the most important fruit tree crops in the Mediterranean region. Lebanon, in particular, is among the top apple producer countries in the Middle East; however, recently, several types of damage, particularly rot symptoms, have been detected on fruits in cold storage. This study aims to identify the causal agents of apple decay in Lebanese post-harvest facilities and characterize a set of 39 representative strains of the toxigenic fungus Penicillium. The results demonstrated that blue mould was the most frequent fungal disease associated with apples showing symptoms of decay after 3–4 months of storage at 0 °C, with an average frequency of 76.5% and 80.6% on cv. Red and cv. Golden Delicious apples, respectively. The morphological identification and phylogenetic analysis of benA gene showed that most Penicillium strains (87.2%) belong to P. expansum species whereas the remaining strains (12.8%) belong to P. solitum. Furthermore, 67.7% of P. expansum strains produced patulin when grown on apple puree for 14 days at 25 °C with values ranging from 10.7 mg kg⁻¹ to 125.9 mg kg⁻¹, whereas all P. solitum did not produce the mycotoxin. This study highlights the presence of Penicillium spp. and their related mycotoxin risk during apple storage and calls for the implementation of proper measures to decrease the risk of mycotoxin contamination of apple fruit products.

ISHS XII International Symposium on Apricot Culture and Decline FRUIT RIPENING OF CONTRASTED APRICOT VARIETIES: PHYSICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the oldest edible fruits cultivated in Lebanon but the diversity of its germplasm has not been addressed yet. The present study presents the first assessment of local pomegranates growing in the country. A set of 78 pomegranate local accessions sampled from the main production areas across the country were evaluated by using twenty-eight quantitative and ten qualitative descriptors. A large variability was revealed among accessions based on the traits studied. Principal component analysis showed that male and hermaphrodite flowers, petal width as well as fruit weight, diameter and length, in addition to juice pH and sugar/acid ratio, were the most discriminating traits. Big sized fruits up to 358.6 g were found for Lefani SL67, Lefani ML25 and Mokh El Baghl SL59 accessions while the juiciest fruits were recorded for Mokh El Baghl SL65, Hamod BH41 and Hamod B54 accessions with 75–78%. The PCA bi-plot allowed to differentiate the studied accessions in three main groups based mainly on the juice pH and sugar/acid ratio: the sweet accessions called Helou, the intermediate taste accessions named Lefani and the sour accessions generally designated as Hamod. Although preliminary, the results of this study indicate a significant diversity within the Lebanese pomegranate germplasm that should be further completed by a DNA analysis to understand the genetic structure of this germplasm with respect to conservation and breeding strategies