Pineapple disease

It is called pineapple disease because of the characteristic odour of the rotting cuttings, which is like that of decaying pineapples. The interior of affected seed pieces becomes sooty black. Eventually the vascular bundles (tissues conducting fluids in the plant) become fibrous strands in hollow blackened core.

In contrast to red rot (which is favoured by excessive soil moisture), pineapple disease is most destructive when cane is planted in dry soil. Another major difference is that the red rot fungus is not soil-borne and infection occurs before planting, whereas pineapple disease fungus lives in the soil.