Introduction. Black plum (Vitex doniana sweet) is a plant widely used
by various communities in Nigeria for many purposes, including production of wine and
jam. Ripe mature black plum fruit for food use commonly collected from the ground instead
of plucked which is more hygienic. An investigation was conducted to find out the
mycoflora on the surface and within the fruits of black plum fruits. Materials and
methods. Mycoflora associated with the surface, skin, pulp and juice of healthy intact
fruits of black plum was isolated in malt extract agar and potato dextrose agar and
identified. Pathogenicity test was carried out with three pathogens of the fruit.
Results and discussion. Fungi with incidence of 20-100% of occurrence were classified
as major components and those below 20% of occurrence were regarded as minor components.
Yeasts making up the major components in the ripe fruits were Saccharomyces cerevisiae
and Candida albicans, while the minor yeast components were Rhodotrula sp., S. coreanus
and Pichia sp. Filamentous fungi constituting major components were Aspergillus niger
and Penicillium sp. whereas minor components were Botryodiplodia theobromae and
Penicillium chrysogenum. Spoilage of fruits was caused by B. theobromae,
Aspergillus sp. and A. niger. Conclusion. Yeasts and, occasionally,
filamentous fungi occur within apparently healthy fruits of Vitex doniana sweet.
Stages of development when the yeasts enter the pulp of the fruit need to be
thoroughly investigated.