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Prevalence of airborne fungal spores in two potato warehouses with different storage conditions

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Abstract

Potatoes production is the main source of income in A Limia (Northwest Spain). Most of the potatoes harvest is stored in piles in farmer´s warehouses without systems to control temperature and relative humidity and only a few industries have storage facilities with cooling systems. This study constitutes an approach to detecting fungal spores present inside potato warehouses and the influence of the environmental conditions on the prevalence of the different types of fungi. The most common spores were Cladosporium and Aspergillus/Penicillium representing more than 94% of the identified spores of fungi. However, some potential fungal potato pathogens such as Alternaria, Helminthosporium, Fusarium and Phytophthora were also detected. In the warehouse without control of the storage conditions, the most represented fungal spores were from Cladosporium followed by Aspergillus/Penicillium, Helminthosporium and Alternaria whereas during storage with cooling conditions, the most abundant were Aspergillus/Penicillium, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Helminthosporium and Leptosphaeria. The results showed a close relationship between the storage conditions and the levels of some identified fungi. The low representation of pathogenic fungi Alternaria and Helminthosporium stood out in the facilities with cooling systems. Monitoring of airborne elements during potato storage could be useful tool for detecting the presence of potato pathogens in the environment and taking management decisions to avoid economic losses.

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Acknowledgements

This study was carried out within the framework of the activities funded for the development of the potato sector in A Limia (Rural Development Programme 2014/2020- FEADER 2017/045B- Xunta de Galicia). Laura Meno is a beneficiary of the pre-PhD contract FPU 17/00267 granted by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. The authors also want to thank the farmers, potato industries and the Council regulation of Protected Geographical Indication Patata de Galicia for their collaboration.

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  1. Department of Vegetal Biology and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Vigo, 32004, As Lagoas, Ourense, Spain

    Laura Meno, Olga Escuredo, Maria Shantal Rodríguez-Flores & Maria Carmen Seijo

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  1. Laura Meno
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  2. Olga Escuredo
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  3. Maria Shantal Rodríguez-Flores
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  4. Maria Carmen Seijo
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Correspondence to Maria Carmen Seijo.

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Meno, L., Escuredo, O., Rodríguez-Flores, M.S. et al. Prevalence of airborne fungal spores in two potato warehouses with different storage conditions. Aerobiologia 37, 309–320 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-021-09691-x

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