Knowledgebase

Black substance in peppers - no punctures #848774

Asked September 05, 2023, 8:30 PM EDT

I received some peppers from a resident who wondered what the black substance is in the photos of the inside of the peppers (below) with no visible hole at the surface. Photo 3 shows a bruise on the external surface, but no puncture. Resident noted an insect with “pinchers” on the inside but she had disposed of the specimen and I did not find any specimens in other peppers. What is the black substance on the internal flesh and seeds in the pepper? What might be the cause?

Clay County South Dakota

Expert Response

Michael,

I see a few possible issues:

There appears to be some possible stippling on the outside of the fruit from stink bug, so you might ask if this is the type of insect they saw (https://extension.usu.edu/vegetableguide/tomato-pepper-eggplant/stink-bugs).

For the external discoloration, I believe that could be a an internal plant disease that spread inward and caused that rotting/molding inside. I would recommend discarding that fruit and watching future fruit set for external damage; if the discoloration is appearing on newly ripened fruits, picking sooner may prevent spread to the inside. This person will not want to eat the rotten or questionable portions of the fruit. If they'd like a diagnosis on which pathogen is causing this, I'd recommend a sample submission to the SDSU Plant Clinic. I'm also going to ping Maddi Shires to take a look at this one.
An Ask Extension Expert Replied September 11, 2023, 1:47 PM EDT

Hi Michael,

I agree with Kristine that this is possibly a fungal pathogen causing the internal discoloration and fruit with this problem should not be consumed. It is difficult to tell in the picture if the black color is actual mold or not. If the submitter would like to send a sample to the diagnostic clinic, we can look at it and investigate what is possibly causing the internal discoloration. Our submission forms and fees are on the following website: https://www.sdstate.edu/agronomy-horticulture-plant-science/sdsu-plant-diagnostic-clinic

An Ask Extension Expert Replied September 11, 2023, 2:07 PM EDT
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Michael Card

On Sep 11, 2023, at 1:07 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:


The Question Asker Replied September 12, 2023, 10:52 AM EDT
I regret that I accidentally send the photos of this insect without an explanation. 

The residents told me that this was the same insect that crawled out of the peppers when the resident cut up the red peppers. These peppers were labeled as red California Wonder (label supplied by the resident, but on a hand written marker from the big box store). These are the peppers that had the black mold (or fungus) in them. The resident has many CA Wonder plants in different parts of her garden and she was not sure which plants produced the red peppers. That is, I did not take photos of the plants as she could not identify which of the 8 plants produced the peppers of interest. 

I did advise the resident not to eat peppers that had “black mold” or fungus in them and not to compost them but to dispose in her trash. 

I’ll remember to bring a better camera and lighting to visits when trying to produce photographic records to submit. 

There appear to be chewing mouth parts, but two sets of wings and my unconfident identification is from the Coleoptera family. 
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Michael Card

On Sep 12, 2023, at 9:48 AM, Michael Card <<personal data hidden>> wrote:


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Michael Card

On Sep 11, 2023, at 1:07 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:


The Question Asker Replied September 12, 2023, 11:38 AM EDT

The insect is an earwig (Dermaptera). They are decomposers that like damp, dark environments. Sometimes, they can damage living plant tissue but usually aren't an issue unless there are large populations. My guess would be there was already a wound in the pepper, and the earwigs took advantage of having a dark place to hang out with a snack bar. They are not an insect I recommend using insecticides to manage, especially this late in the season when the fruit is harvestable.

Amanda Bachmann, PhDPesticide Education and Urban Entomology Field Specialist Replied September 12, 2023, 12:46 PM EDT
Thanks Amanda. Your slides from the training led me to that conclusion. 

Michael Card

On Sep 12, 2023, at 11:46 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:


The Question Asker Replied September 12, 2023, 4:57 PM EDT

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