Abstract:To learn the developments of the main postharvest diseases on litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruits collected from the main production areas in Guangdong and Hainan Provinces and the effects of the diseases on storage of the fruits, the developments of the diseases of the fruits stored at room temperature (28℃) were observed and the latent infection rate of the pathogen of anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz. in the pericarp was tested, and the effects of the infection of the disease on postharvest physiology and storage life of the fruits were studied. The disease occurrence rates of anthracnose, downy blight caused by Peronophythora litchii Chen ex Ko et al. and sour rot caused by Geotrichum candidum Link were 95.3%, 6.5% and 8.2% respectively. The symptom of anthracnose of the fruits was found to appear on 3th or 4th day after harvest. The incidence of anthracnose was 60.8% to 100% and 83.1% to 100% respectively as the fruits were stored for 7 days and 9 days. The anthracnose was the main disease causing postharvest decay and its pathogen came mainly from the fruit with latent infection before harvest. The pathogen of latent infection was isolated from the pericarp of the young fruits; the rate of latent infection in the pericarp was increased gradually with the growing of the fruit, reaching to about 90% at harvest. In general, the postharvest physiological changes were quite evident. The respiration rate, ethylene production and malondialdehyde content were all obviously increased in the fruits with higher rates of the latent infection of the fungus, causing more serious postharvest decay and browning. The anthracnose on the fruits with high rate of latent infection could not be evidently controlled by using fungicide after harvest. The lower the latent infection rate of the fruit, the better it was for storing. The rate of latent infection of the pathogen, postharvest decay and browning of the fruits were found to be reduced markedly by spraying fungicide twice or three times in the growing season of the fruit before harvest, as to improve the quality for storage.