Breaking of oil cells due to physical stress on turgid fruits causes release of the oil that damages surrounding tissues. Avoiding harvesting lemons when they are very turgid and careful handling reduce severity of this disorder. Pathological Disorders Green mold. Caused by Penicillium digitatum which penetrates the fruit rind through wounds. Caused by Penicillium italicum which can penetrate the uninjured peel and can spread from one lemon to adjacent lemons.
Symptoms are similar to green mold except that the spores are blue.
Caused by Alternaria citri which enters the lemons through their buttons. Preharvest treatment with gibberellic acid or postharvest treatment with 2,4D delay senescence of the buttons and subsequent decay by Alternaria. Prompt cooling to the proper temperature range. Maintaining optimum ranges of temperature and relative humidity and exclusion of ethylene during transport and storage. Effective sanitation throughout the handling system.