4.1 Pre-harvest
There are serious fungal pathogens of coffee but fungi in general,
and OTA-producing fungi in particular,
are not responsible for plant disease.
Many are or can be involved in fruit spoilage and several of these can grow and survive in viable, healthy seeds.
Microorganisms form a natural part of the plant, inside and out, and in the healthy plant there
is a balance between these commensal organisms and the plant itself. There is good
evidence now that infection of the seed by OTA-producing fungi can take place in the
orchard and grow enough to produce OTA by the time of harvest. Further work is
required to better understand the factors that lead to this contamination.