Different rootstocks, irrigation, and nutritional management on the quality parameters of Montenegrina mandarins (Citrus deliciosa Tenore) cultivated in  Vale do Caí  region, South Brazil

Wendel P. Silvestre,William Zanardi,Gabriel F. Pauletti

doi:10.4322/crt.22421

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the qualitative parameters of Montenegrina mandarin fruits under different water and nutritional management, combined with two rootstocks, in the Vale do CaÃ region. The experiment was conducted in the city of SÃ£o SebastiÃ£o do CaÃ, South Brazil, at UCS Campus. The experiment was bifactorial with two varieties of rootstocks (Poncirus trifoliata L. and Swingle citrumelo) and three cultivation systems (conventional, irrigated, and fertigated), completely randomized, with three replicates for each treatment. Fifty fruits were evaluated for average fruit mass (AFM), longitudinal and transverse diameters (Ã); 10 fruits for juice content (Jc), soluble solids content (SS), total titratable acidity (TA), ratio, and ascorbic acid content. The variables transversal Ã, AFM, Jc, SS, and ratio were not significantly influenced by the adopted treatments. Irrigated plants presented higher TA when compared to conventionally managed and fertigated plants. Swingle citrumelo presented greater longitudinal fruit Ã compared to P. trifoliata. Montenegrina fruits grafted to P. trifoliata presented a higher concentration of ascorbic acid compared to Swingle citrumelo fruits. For the conditions of Vale do CaÃ, with the climatic conditions of the years 2018/2019, would not be necessary to make use of irrigation and fertigation technologies to increase fruit quality

Highlights

In Rio Grande do Sul state, South Brazil, approximately 12,000 families cultivate some kind of citrus fruits for commercial purposes (Efrom & Souza, 2018)
The Montenegrina mandarin belongs to the species Citrus deliciosa Tenore and after the ‘Valência’ orange (Citrus sinensis Osb.), is the most cultivated Citrus with an acreage of 5,025 ha and raw production of 69,022 t in the Vale do Caí region in 2019, corresponding to an average productivity of 13.763 t·ha-1 (Efrom & Souza, 2018; IBGE, 2019)
Sartori et al (2007), who evaluated the use of phytoregulators and pruning in Montenegrina mandarin trees, reported average fruit mass (AFM) values of 100.62 g whereas Petry et al (2012), working with organic nutritional management, the AFM was 121.45 g

Summary

Introduction

In Rio Grande do Sul state, South Brazil, approximately 12,000 families cultivate some kind of citrus fruits for commercial purposes (Efrom & Souza, 2018). The state leads the national acreage ranking, with 11,758 ha and a total production of 148,432 t in 2019, corresponding to an average production of 12.678 t·ha-1 (IBGE, 2019). Among the cultivated Citrus varieties, fruits of Montenegrina mandarin highlight themselves. The Montenegrina mandarin belongs to the species Citrus deliciosa Tenore and after the ‘Valência’ orange (Citrus sinensis Osb.), is the most cultivated Citrus with an acreage of 5,025 ha and raw production of 69,022 t in the Vale do Caí region in 2019, corresponding to an average productivity of 13.763 t·ha-1 (Efrom & Souza, 2018; IBGE, 2019)

Objectives

Methods

Results