Isolation And Identification Of Fungi Associated With Date Palm Fruit Rot (Phonex Dactylifera) Disease And Their Impact On Date Quality

Abstract

This study was undertaken to isolate and identify the fungal species associated with fruit rot of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) at different stages of fruit ripening. The isolation and identification procedures revealed a diverse fungal community associated with diseased and deteriorating date fruits. The predominant isolates included Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, A. niger, Penicillium expansum, Stemphylium spp., Nigrospora sp., Pestalotia sp., Ulocladium sp., Curvularia lunata, Bipolaris sp., and several other fungal taxa.

Among the isolated fungi, Aspergillus spp. exhibited the highest occurrence and frequency, accounting for 73.4% and 37%, respectively. The fungal isolates were identified using conventional morphological characteristics based on established taxonomic keys and further confirmed through molecular identification by amplification and sequencing of the ITS1–ITS4 region of ribosomal DNA. The identified isolates of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers OP602315.1 and LC752805.1, respectively.

Furthermore, quantitative analysis of aflatoxin contamination using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed that the majority of the examined date fruit samples were contaminated with aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁), with concentrations ranging from 20 to 90 ppb. These findings highlight the substantial diversity of fungi associated with date fruit rot and, importantly, demonstrate the potential food-safety risk posed by aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus species in date fruits.