Can Early-Period Fruit Analysis be Performed for Timely Interventions Against Physiological Disorders In Apple Trees?

Abstract

Apple is grown in various parts of the world and consumed year-long in four seasons. The nutrient contents of fruit constitute the bases for several disorders experienced in storages. Although leaf analyses are used worldwide to assess the nutritional status of fruit trees, they may not yield accurate outcomes for assessment of fruit nutrient contents. Even if leaf nutrient contents are enough or quite high, various physiological disorders on fruits may be resulted from nutrient deficiencies. Fruit analyses should be performed to determine fruit nutrient contents and accordingly to improve flesh quality and to take relevant measures in early periods.In this study, fruit samples were collected for 2 years from 260 apple orchards in Isparta province of Turkey in 6 different periods covering the timeframe from June drops to harvest and fruit nutrient contents were determined from these samples. Firstly, seasonal variations of nutrients were examined. It was observed that fruit nutrient contents decreased periodically and this decreasing was quite faster through the early periods of the vegetation. Secondly, correlations between nutrient contents of the fruits sampled at the last period and the nutrient contents of the fruits sampled at earlier periods were also investigated in this study. Significant correlations revealed that fruit nutrient contents could be traced between the relevant periods and reference values could be established for these periods. Positive outcomes were observed for investigated nutrients except for N, Fe and Zn.