Abstract
This study was conducted on strawberry plant fruits, crown, leaves and the soil surrounding the roots. Samples were collected from Tripoli and its vicinity. Fourteen genera of fungi were isolated including B. cinerea, Alternaria spp., Colletotrichum spp., Fusarium spp., Rhizoctonia spp. and other genera. Based on the morphological characteristic and the pathogenicity degree of the fungus; Botrytis cinerea was proved to be the causal agent of the gray mold disease in Tripoli area. This study showed strong evidence that covering of strawberry fruits with polyethylene will indeed increase the rate of spreading B. cinerea on the fruits during marketing and storage. This study is the first to document the isolation and identification of strawberry fungal diseases in Tripoli and its suburbs.
