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ID Gallery: Gray Mold

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Gray Mold on Apples

Gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) is a common postharvest disease on apples worldwide. This fungus has the ability to spread from decayed fruit to surrounding healthy fruit through fruit-to-fruit contact during storage. Because of this, significant losses as high as 20-60% are not uncommon after an extended period of storage, particularly on fruit that were not treated with fungicides prior to storage

For a full description of gray mold and it’s management visit our page Gray Mold Postharvest Disease.

Click on images below to see full size.

red apple, upper half brown

Gray mold originating from infection at stem bowl; gray spore masses may be visible at the diseased area under high humidity. Photo: CL Xiao, USDA-ARS.

apple with a large brown, wrinkled area

Gray mold commonly originating from infection of wounds on the fruit; decayed area brown, spongy to firm; decayed tissue may become soft in very advanced stage. Photo: CL Xiao, USDA-ARS.

red apple with light gray, fuzzy area

Gray mold originating from infection of the calyx of a Red Delicious; white to gray mycelium and gray spores may cover the decayed area under high humidity conditions. Photo: CL Xiao, USDA-ARS.

apple with brown area around the stem

Gray mold at the stem-bowl of a Gala. Decayed area brown and spongy to firm. Photo: A. Amiri, WSU Plant Pathology.

an apple cut in half with most of the interior brown

Internal view of a Fuji apple tissue infected by gray mold. Note the irregular margin and decayed tissue does not separate from healthy tissue. Photo: A. Amiri, WSU Plant Pathology.

a green apple with a large round brown patch with a little bit of gray fuzz in the center

Gray mold originating from side wound infection of a Granny Smith. Photo: A. Amiri, WSU Plant Pathology.

an apple completely covered in gray fuzz

Advanced stage of gray mold. White to gray mycelium covering the decayed area under high humidity. Photo: A. Amiri, WSU Plant Pathology.

a bin of apples with yellow arrows pointing to individuals covered with gray fuzz

Nesting of gray mold due to fruit-to fruit spread on Honeycrisp in storage. Notice white to gray mycelium. Photo: A. Amiri, WSU Plant Pathology.

a shriveled red-green apple with gray stuff around the stem

Gray mold infection at the stem end of a Honeycrisp apple showing fluffy white to gray mycelia. Photo: TJ Mullinex, Good Fruit Grower.

half an apple - a quarter of it brown-gray with white-ish spots

Interior view of gray mold on Honeycrisp originating from a stem bowl infection. Photo: TJ Mullinex, Good Fruit Grower.

a red apple mostly brown and shriveled

External gray mold infection on Crips Pink apple not showing spores. Photo: TJ Mullinex, Good Fruit Grower.

a brown, shriveled apple with white around the stem

Gray mold infection on Crips Pink apple with white mycelia and early spore formation in the stem bowl. Photo: TJ Mullinex, Good Fruit Grower.

Gray Mold on Pear

Click on images below to see full size.

an almost entirely brown pear

Stem-end gray mold progressing toward the calyx-end commonly seen on d’Anjou pears. Photo: A. Amiri, WSU Plant Pathology.

a pear with a large brown area around the calyx

Gray mold originating from calyx infection on a d‘Anjou pear. Photo: CL Xiao, USDA-ARS.

a pear with a large brown patch, wrinkled in the center

Gray mold originating from wound infection on a d’Anjou pear fruit. Photo: CL Xiao, USDA-ARS.

an almost entirely brown pear with a lot of gray fuzzy stuff on it

Sclerotia of B. cinerea formed on the surface of a decayed d ‘Anjou fruit at advanced stage. Photo: CL Xiao, USDA-ARS.

Washington State University