AN INVESTIGATION OF CHARACTERIZATION AND ISOLATION OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH “SPOILED” TOMATOES IN GWAGWALADA
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INTRODUCTION
Vegetables are an essential food product that are both economically important and nutritionally significant. Vegetables naturally play an important part in human nutrition by delivering the required growth factors in the form of vitamins and key minerals in human daily diet, and this may assist in the maintenance of a healthy and normal state of health. The natural world is rife with a diverse assortment of vegetables. The relatively short shelf life time that is induced by pathogen's assault is one of the limiting elements that might have an effect on the economic worth of the fruit (Alexopoulus, 2022).
The tomato, also known as Lycopersicon esculentum, is often considered to be the most significant vegetable on a global scale. The tomato is an annual plant that is a member of the Solanaceae family, which also contains well-known species such as the potato, tobacco, pepper, and egg plants (aubergine). It may grow to a height of more than two meters and bears the fruit of the tomato plant. The tomato, which is a kind of berry fruit, is often cultivated on soil (Baiyewu, 2022).
Tomatoes are important for a variety of reasons, the primary one being that they fulfill nutritional requirements. It may be prepared as a vegetable, used as a component in a wide variety of recipes and sauces, included into the production of stew and fruit juices, and enjoyed raw in salads (Barnet, 2021). The contemporary tomato, which is a highly popular fruit, originated in what is now the Peru-Ecuador region. It came from the south-western part of the hemisphere (Barnet, 2021). It then made its way to many other places of tropical America after leaving here. It might have made its way to the ports of West Africa through merchants from the Portuguese or from the Sudan (Barksdale, 2021).
Gardening and irrigation techniques are used to cultivate tomatoes in West Africa. According to Bayman (2022), the majority of tomatoes cultivated in Nigeria are grown in the northern portions of the nation. However, there is no record of any traditional storage technique that is structured or systematic for vegetables and fruits. They are often put up for sale as soon as they have been harvested. They are prepared for transit to the markets by being placed in baskets, cardboard boxes, or wooden crates before being packaged. When it comes to handling, transit, and storage, tomatoes are the most perishable of all vegetables. This is due to the fact that tomatoes contain a significant quantity of water, which renders them prone to deterioration as a result of the activity of microorganisms such as fungus, bacteria, and protozoans (Bayman, 2022). This loss has been attributed to a number of factors which include physical (mechanical breakage, bruises), physiological, and also damages caused by pathological agents (Bayman, 2022), the market value of the tomato are mainly reduced by this factors. Estimates have shown that about one third of the produce is lost before reaching the consumer (Bayman, 2022). According to Besri (2020), spoilt food is defined as food that has been harmed to the point that it is no longer acceptable for human eating due to the damage or injury it has sustained. Alterations in the food's color, flavor, fragrance, and texture, as well as its overall quality, may be brought on by a number of different processes, including those carried out by insects, which can inflict physical damage such as bruising, and enzyme activity brought on by microorganisms.
These changes may be accompanied by alterations in flavor, smell, appearance, or texture. Barnet, (2021) defined spoiling as any change in the state of food in which the item becomes less pleasant or even hazardous. The process by which bacteria cause spoiling in food shouldn't be seen as a malicious scheme on the part of the microbes to purposely ruin foods, but rather as a natural function of these organisms within the larger ecology of all living species (Watt and Merrill, 2020). In addition, Watt and Merrill (2020) calculated that 20% of all fruits and vegetables cultivated for human consumption are lost due to microbial deterioration that caused one or more of 250 market illnesses. This is a significant amount of food waste. Fresh tomatoes often rot while they are being stored, transported, or waiting to be processed. This may happen at any of these stages. According to Alexopoulus (2022), fruits and vegetables continue to respire after being picked, and as a consequence, heat is created. This heat is referred to as "vital heat," and the amount of it fluctuates depending on the quantity of fruits and vegetables.
The vegetables that respire the most and generate the greatest heat are also the ones that rot or deteriorate the quickest. An independent debate on the microbiological processes that lead to the spoiling of fruits in general and tomatoes in particular is made more difficult by the fact that the fruits undergo respiration in addition to the usual ripening process. The wilt disease that affects tomatoes may be caused by a number of different fungus, including Fusarium oxysporium f.sp.lycoperisici and Verticillium albo-atrum. (Nesmith and others, 2021). While Verticillium has been damaging on greenhouse tomatoes and on commercial stake tomatoes, Fusarium is more widespread in replant fields and gardens. The wilt disease caused by Verticillium is more common at lower temperatures, while the wilt illness caused by Fusarium is more common in warmer environments. Both thrive in damp environments more than others.
According to Amusa., (2022), both types of fungus may be found living in the soil across the state of Kentucky. These fungi infect the plant via the roots and then grow upward through the vessels that carry water throughout the plant. There are a few different routes that may be used to introduce Fusarium and Verticillium to soils: Old crop leftovers, transplants, wind, water, soils carried by implements, or mulches may all act as a source of nutrients. These fungi are able to persist in the soil for an extended period of time and may easily get established in most soils. When tomatoes that are sensitive to the disease are planted in soil that is infested with the fungi that cause it, the roots of the tomatoes are also attacked. When root knot nematode is present in addition to either disease, the consequences are substantially more severe. The use of tomato cultivars that are resistant to the disease, as well as the use of fumigation or stream sterilization to treat the soil in greenhouses, may help to manage the problem.
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