Main symptoms
The rare berries infected with Aspergillus spp. are soft and dull. They take on a whitish color on the white grape varieties and rather brown on the reds (figures 1 to 6).
The sporulation brown to black of these fungi on berries is rather powdery to charcoal for species belonging to the Nigri section (Figures 7 and 8). The fruiting bodies of these fungi are also observed in the heart of botrytised clusters following their secondary development.
Only a few species in this section have been associated with alterations in grape berries: Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus carbonarius . Let us add that Aspergillus aculeatus has also been described in Canada as responsible for berry rot starting from various wounds.