Hitherto Unreported Post Harvest Diseases of Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) from Himachal Pradesh

摘要

Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C.S. Liang et A.R. Ferguson) (syn. Actinidia chinensis Planch) commonly known as kiwifruit or Chinese gooseberry is a edible berry, which is a rich source of vitamin C, K and E (Huang and Ferguson 2001). Kiwifruit is often reported to have mild laxative effects due to its significant levels of dietary fibers (Rush et al 2002). Kiwifruit seed oil contains on an average 62% alpha-linolenic acid, and omega-3 fatty acid, which prevents the risk of heart diseases. It contains zeaxanthin, carotenoids, such as provitamin A, beta-carotene and lutein (Sommerburg et al 1998; Kim et al 2010) and has a potential to reduce the risk of blood clots (Duttaroy and Jorgensen 2004). It is one of the most remunerative fruit crop recentlyintroduced under the umbrella of diversification programme in Himachal Pradesh. A survey of kiwi orchards indicated that it is attacked by a few weak pathogens during the crop season but the fruits are more prone to post harvest rots during the storage.Therefore, the present investigations were carried out to record the relative occurrence of different post harvest diseases of kiwifhiit in storage.