Post-harvest diseases represent a serious problem for citriculture, reducing fruit quality and crop yield. This work aimed to characterize the post-harvest injuries of oranges 'Pêra', 'Lima' and 'Natal' and tangor 'Murcott', during handling in the packinghouse. Samples of one hundred fruits were collected on arrival at the packinghouse, before culling and in the pallet, after hand packing into wood boxes. The fruits were individualized and submitted to humid chambers for 24 hours. Fruits were incubated for 20 days at 25ºC and 85% of relative humidity. The incidence of diseases was assessed visually after the removal of the humid chamber and every three days. Fungal pathogenicity was confirmed by fungal inoculation in healthy fruits. Post-harvest disease incidence was similar in different phases of handling system for varieties Lima and Natal. For Pêra and tangor 'Murcott' disease incidence was lower on arrival at the packinghouse compared to other handling phases. Green mold was the most frequent disease in all varieties. Other important diseases were anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides), stem-end rots (Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Phomopsis citri), and sour rot (Geotrichum candidum).
citrus fruit; post-harvest diseases; mechanical damages
