PRESS RELEASE

Plant Pathologists Keep Strawberries Sweet to Eat

St. Paul, Minn. (January 18, 2005) –Whether covered in chocolate or served with a bubbling glass of champagne, what would Valentine’s Day or any other special romantic night be without those sweet, heart-shaped berries? This Valentines’ Day, The American Phytopathological Society (APS) wants sweethearts and growers alike to know that plant pathologists work year-round to keep strawberries healthy and abundant.

According to Dan Legard, APS member and director of research and education at the California Strawberry Commission in Watsonville, Calif., the main disease that affects strawberries is gray mold, which is caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. Gray mold will eventually cover the fruit in a gray mass of fungal spores and causes it to rot prior to or soon after harvesting.

“Gray mold is the main reason strawberries are rejected at the market,” said Legard.

By studying the epidemiology of the disease, plant pathologists have been able to determine that only the strawberry flower is susceptible to gray mold. Using this discovery, growers now only need to apply fungicide when the strawberry is flowering. “Spraying after the plant has flowered doesn’t work,” said Legard. Fungicide can cost between $15-50 an acre, but by reducing the number of applications, growers are able to significantly reduce these costs, said Legard.

Strawberries receive no post-harvest treatment and come directly from the field to the consumer. Typically, said Legard, strawberries are harvested, packaged, and cooled the same day and can be in the market within three days of harvesting. Healthy strawberries can normally last up to three weeks after harvesting.

The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is a non-profit, professional scientific organization. The research of the organization’s 5,000 worldwide members advances the understanding of the science of plant pathology and its application to plant health.