Current understanding of Olea europaea L. – Colletotrichum acutatum interactions in the context of identification and quantification methods – A review

Olive is an evergreen tree belonging to the Oleaceae family and producing edible fruits. Olive production is limited by a huge number of diseases, among them, anthracnose, caused by the ascomycete fungus Colletotrichum spp, which is considered to be the most damaging one in terms of economic loss. Although several methods have been developed to detect the pathogen that causes the disease, its quantification is still limited among infected food products. The interest in developing quantification methods has increased, so risk assessment can be performed in fresh or processed food/beverage samples. This work presents the state-of-the-art of the methods used in pathogen identification, considering several hosts and/or food products, with particular emphasis given to olive anthracnose disease. Additionally, the reasons why pathogen quantification methods are necessary for crop control and food products are also explored. So far, the most reliable detection and quantification methods described are based on DNA amplification, more particularly, real-time PCR. Through a deep knowledge of the C. acutatum infection patterns, improvements may be made to enhance anthracnose disease detection, control and avoidance strategies.