Kothawade, Gajanan S.Khot, Lav R.Chandel, Abhilash K.Molnar, CodyHarper, Scott J.Wright, Alice A.2025-04-152025-04-152025-03-25Kothawade, G.S.; Khot, L.R.; Chandel, A.K.; Molnar, C.; Harper, S.J.; Wright, A.A. Feasibility of Little Cherry/X-Disease Detection in Prunus avium Using Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry. Sensors 2025, 25, 2034.https://hdl.handle.net/10919/125207Little cherry disease (LCD) and X-disease have critically impacted the Pacific Northwest sweet cherry (<i>Prunus&nbsp;avium</i>) industry. Current detection methods rely on laborious visual scouting or molecular analyses. This study evaluates the suitability of field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) for rapid detection of LCD and X-disease infection in three sweet cherry cultivars (&lsquo;Benton&rsquo;, &lsquo;Cristalina&rsquo;, and &lsquo;Tieton&rsquo;) at the post-harvest stage. Stem cuttings with leaves were collected from commercial orchards and greenhouse trees. FAIMS operated at 1.5 L/min and 50 kPa, was used for headspace analysis. Molecular analyses confirmed symptomatic and asymptomatic samples. FAIMS data were processed for ion current sum (I_sum), maximum ion current (I_max), and area under the curve (I_AUC). Symptomatic samples showed higher ion currents in specific FAIMS regions (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05), with clear differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic samples across compensation voltage and dispersion field ranges. Cultivar-specific variation was also observed in the data. FAIMS spectra for LCD/X-disease symptomatic samples differed from those for asymptomatic samples in other Prunus species, such as peach and nectarines. These findings support FAIMS as a potential diagnostic tool for LCD/X disease. Further studies with controlled variables and key growth stages are recommended to realize early-stage detection.application/pdfenCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 InternationalArticle - Refereed2025-04-11https://doi.org/10.3390/s25072034