Modelling the growth of pear postharvest fungal isolates at different temperatures

The effect of temperature on the mycelium growth kinetics of four postharvest fungal isolates (i.e., Penicillium expansum, Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea and Rhizopus stolonifer) was assessed. A cardinal model with inflection (CMI) was used to describe the effect of the temperature on the growth rate (μ) and the lag time (λ) of each isolate. Cardinal temperature values such as T_min, T_max and T_opt were estimated and isolates were sorted according to their growth rate and lag time duration. Additionally, model validation was performed on a medium prepared from mashed pear pulp and on artificially wound-inoculated pear fruits. P. expansum was shown to be the most psychotrophic fungus with the lowest estimated T_min = -8.78. Model validation on pear pulp agar showed growth rate over-prediction in the case of R. stolonifer and B. cinerea but a good correlation in the case of P. expansum and A. alternata. In vivo experiments on pear fruits showed discrepancies from the synthetic and the simulated counterparts for all the fungi with the only exception of P. expansum.