Advanced analysis of developmental and ripening characteristics of pollinated common-type fig (Ficus carica L.)

Abstract

Development and ripening processes differ in pollinated and parthenocarpic fruit. While the facultative parthenocarpic common-type fig fruit serves as a receptacle for flower development, it becomes fleshy by either pollination or through a parthenocarpic process. Here we studied the effect of pollination on common-type fig fruit development and ripening characteristics compared to the parthenocarpic fruit under otherwise identical conditions. The effects of pollination on fruit development were investigated on the tree and in storage. Pollinated fruit showed altered developmental processes. Ripened pollinated fruit were round, in contrast to the pear-like shape of the parthenocarpic fruit. The pollinated fruit also had a larger diameter and weight and improved firmness compared to the parthenocarpic fruit. At harvest, the pollinated fruit exhibited more commercially desirable physical and taste characteristics, with advanced fertile nutlets compared to the sterile undeveloped non-bearing nutlets of the parthenocarpic fruit. During storage, senescence and spoilage of the pollinated fruit were slower than in parthenocarpic fruit, as manifested by firmness, internal texture, weight, size, shriveling, and decay. Thus, pollination of the common-type fig cultivar Brown Turkey delayed senescence and extended the shelf life of its fruit. The external and internal morphological differences throughout post-pollination development make common-type fig an excellent research tool for studies of physiological and molecular aspects of pollination.