530 A MANUAL OF THE PENICILLIA 



a characteristic soft rot, generally referred to as "blue-mold rot." To- 

 gether with P. digitatum Sacc, it is responsible for serious losses of oranges, 

 lemons, grapefruit, etc., particularly during storage and marketing. The 

 two species may occur separately or together, but in either case, problems 

 relating to infection and control are common to both species, hence a joint 

 literature has been built up. (See also the P. digitatum series, p. 385 to 

 p. 392.) 



Penicillium italicum as a cause of decay of citrus fruits in this country 

 has received careful study by Fulton, Brooks, Miller, and others in the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, by investigators in Florida, and by 

 Fawcett and co-workers in California. 



Barker (1928) reported Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum commonly 

 developing on citrus fruit arriving in London from Spain, Palestine, Brazil, 

 and Argentina. Powell (1928), and Reichert and Littauer (1928) found 

 P. italicum and P. digitatum prevalent on fruits in Palestine and recom- 

 mended careful handling, sanitation, and disinfection of fruit with hypo- 

 chlorite, sodium bicarbonate, or borax as measures of control. Tindale 

 and Fish (1931) reported the same mold to be responsible for heavy infec- 

 tions in Victoria; and as a control measure, they recommended storing 

 fruit for 3 days at 94°F. prior to placement in storage. Kursanoff and 

 Alexeyeva (1938) observed heavy losses from blue and green mold citrus 

 rots in Southern Russia. Wei (1940) found P. italicum to be the most 

 destructive rot of sweet oranges in Szechuan Province, China. A new 

 variety, P. italicum var. album Wei, characterized by white colonies, and 

 P. fructigenum Takeuchi were reported. Benton (1931) reported Peni- 

 cillium rots to be common on oranges in New South Wales, Australia, and 

 recommended dipping the fruit in 8 per cent borax solution and covering 

 with paraffin before storing. Nattrass (1935) reported P. italicum and 

 P. digitatum to be common on fruit in Cyprus. Kidd and Tompkins (1928) 

 studied temperature in relation to spoilage of South African Valencia 

 oranges, reporting P. italicum to be the most destructive species in storage 

 at 5°C. 



Fawcett (1927) found Penicillium italicum to be the most common cause 

 of contact rot in stored lemons, with the mold spreading from diseased to 

 sound fruit. Savastano and Fawcett (1929) studied the effect of mixed 

 inocula in producing decay of woimded orange and lemon fruits, and in 

 some cases found the rate of spoilage to exceed the sum of the rates of in- 

 dividual pathogens. Bargei; (1928) showed that sodium bicarbonate could 

 be substituted for borax as a disinfectant to protect fruit against P. digi- 

 tatum and P. italicum. Marloth (1931) investigated the influence of H-ion 

 concentration and of sodiimi bicarbonate upon the growth of P. italicum 

 and P. digitatum upon synthetic media with added orange extract. The 



