Comparative studies on pigmented grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) cultivars under climatic conditions of Sahiwal, Punjab

Abstract

Four pigmented grapefruit cultivars viz. Shamber, Flame, Star Ruby and Rio Red were evaluated at Horticultural Research Station, Sahiwal (Pakistan) for their production features encompassing growth, yield and fruit characteristics. The cultivars significantly differed for the studied physical parameters i.e. yield per plant (kg), fruit weight (g), fruit length (cm), fruit breadth (cm), peel thickness (mm), peel, juice and rag contents (%)], and biochemical traits i.e. TSS (°Brix), acidity (%) and ripening index. The highest fruit yield (84.28 kg/plant) was recorded for Star Ruby and the minimum (75.00 kg/plant) was recorded for Rio Red. The maximum fruit weight (338.92 g/fruit) was noted in Rio Red, while the maximum fruit length (9.14 cm) was found in Shamber. The highest TSS was noted for Rio Red (8.32 °Brix) followed by Shamber (7.94 °Brix). The maximum fruit acidity was observed for Star Ruby (1.00%), while the minimum for Shamber (0.94%). It was concluded that four grapefruit cultivars under consideration were divergent in their performance under prevailing conditions.