Behaviour of almond cultivars in presence of aspergillus flavus link

Abstract

Aspergillus flavus is a filamentous fungus affecting almond kernels in the field and during storage. This fungus can produce aflatoxins (carcinogenic and immunosuppressive mycotoxins), which prevent the commercialization of almond kernels. Resistance to A. flavus has not been an objective in conventional almond breeding programmes. Since the importance of this disease is currently increasing, the first evaluation studies of cultivar susceptibility are being carried out. In this study, the susceptibility of 40 almond genotypes to an A. flavus isolate was evaluated in controlled inoculation conditions at 26ºC. The results obtained 18 days after the inoculation showed the susceptibility to A. flavus of kernels of the almond cultivars assayed. Nevertheless, differences between cultivars were observed in the percentage of kernel surface colonized by the fungus.