Pathogenic role of the mycoflora associated with coffee fruit spots

Abstract

Coffee fruits with different types of spots were collected on coffee farms at various locations in Puerto Rico. Fruits were classified on a scale from 0 to 6 on the basis of color and morphology of the lesions. Three methods were used to isolate the mycoflora from the lesions. Species of Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Cercospora, Trichoderma, Penicillium, Cladosporium y Aspergillus were isolated with variations in frequency. Wounds and fruit maturation influenced lesion length and pathogenicity of some isolates. Pathogenicity trials identified Cercospora coffeicola, Fusarium solani, F. oxysporum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. dematium as primary pathogens in the etiology of fruit spots in coffee.