Effect of Oxygen on Carbon Monoxide Suppression of Postharvest Pathogens of Fruits. Noel F. Sommer, Department of Pomology, University of California, Davis 95616. R. J. Fortlage, J. R. Buchanan, and Adel A. Kader, Department of Pomology, University of California, Davis 95616. Plant Dis. 65:347-349. Copyright 1981 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-65-347.

Botrytis cinerea, Monilinia fructicola, and Penicillium expansum grew well in an atmosphere containing only 4% oxygen. Large reductions in growth occurred only when oxygen dropped below 2%, a level that may result in fermentative respiration and injury to most fruits. Carbon monoxide (9–11%) strikingly suppressed fungal growth only if the atmosphere contained less than about 5 or 6% oxygen. Carbon monoxide may thus have utility as a fungistatic component of low oxygen modified atmospheres in transport or storage of fruits.