First Report of Alternaria alternata Causing Postharvest Fruit Rot of Jujube in Pakistan

Jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk) commonly known as “ber” is a minor fruit in Pakistan which is cultivated on an area of 5.129 hectares. In January 2017, severe fruit rot disease was observed in several markets located in Faisalabad (31°-25'-15.7620''-N, 73°-5' 21.4584''-E) district of Punjab-Pakistan, with disease incidence ranging from 15-26%. Initially, small, oval, light to dark brown lesions (1-3 mm) were observed on the fruit surface, which gradually enlarged in size and leading to total fruit rot. To isolate the pathogen, small tissue segments were cut from rotted fruit, surface disinfected with 1% NaClO for 2 minutes, rinsed three times in sterilized distilled water, air dried, and then placed aseptically onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Tissue samples were cultured at 25°C under a 12-hr light/dark photoperiod for 3 days. Isolates were transferred to fresh PDA medium, and cultured for 7 days. The cultured isolates consistently yielded dark brown to black colonies (85% isolation rate from 40...