ABSTRACT
In 1809 Johann Heinrich Friedrich described the genus Penicillum foe the first time in the scientific literature from his work Observationes in ordines plantarum naturales, writing Penicillum. Penicillium belongs to the kingdom ‘Fungi,’ phylum ‘Ascomycota,’ class ‘Eurotiomycetes’ order ‘Eurotiales,’ family ‘Trichocomaceae,’ genus ‘Penicillium.’ Penicillium is repeatedly referred to as Deuteromycetes, or Fungi imperfecti. Penicillium species are heterotrophic. The pathogenic species feed off of the natural product they wreck. Penicillium produces asexually and is incapable to have sporulation when submerged. Penicillium rot can be perceived in the field, but most often, it develops after harvest and can result in crop losses of up to 90%. Blue mold or bluish-green mold are generally belonging to Penicillium, the very same mold from which the penicillin antibiotic is prepared. Despite strains of Penicillium being known as phytopathogen, several of its strains have shown promises to support sustainable agriculture acting as phytoaugmenter.
