Early Shoot Development Affects Carbohydrate Supply and Fruit Quality of Red-Fleshed Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis ‘Zes008’

Annette Richardson,Deborah Ellingham,Heather Jenkins,Simona Nardozza,Peggy Kashuba,Victoria Eyre

doi:10.3390/agronomy11010066

Annette Richardson, Deborah Ellingham + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010066

Copy DOI

Abstract

Fruit quality characteristics are highly variable across kiwifruit vines due to complex source-sink interactions. We investigated how variation in fruit quality of Actinidia chinensis (Planch.) var. chinensis ‘Zes008’ was influenced by different shoot types (short, medium or long) and rootstocks types (Actinidia chinensis (Planch.) var. deliciosa (A. Chev.) ‘Bruno’ or Actinidia macrosperma C.F. Liang). Short shoots had smaller leaves (−30 to −50%) and lower photosynthesis rates (−0.70 to −3.34 µmol m−2 s−1) in the first cluster of nine leaves (Zone 1) compared with leaves on medium or long shoots. Later in the season, photosynthesis rates in Zone 1 declined with leaf age, but photosynthesis rates were higher (+0.5 to +6.1 µmol m−2 s−1) in later developing leaves on medium or long shoots. Fruit from short shoots had lower dry matter (−0.3 percent units) and lower outer pericarp flesh red pigment scores than fruit from medium or long shoots. At harvest, fruit from vines on ‘Bruno’ rootstocks were larger (+3.7 g), had higher dry matter (+1.3 percent units), soluble solids concentration (+1.7° Brix) and firmness (+0.4 kgf) than fruit from vines on A. macrosperma rootstocks. Factors that prioritised early development of source leaves had a direct impact on the carbohydrate supply from photosynthesis to support flower and fruit development.

Highlights

Consumers want fruit and vegetables to fit their desire for a ‘perfect’ product [1,2]
This study demonstrated that during the very early stages of bud development shoot type and rootstock determined the ability of leaves to photosynthesise and supply carbohydrate to support fruit development throughout the remainder of the season on red-fleshed A. chinensis var. chinensis ‘Zes008’ vines
The results from this study suggest that carbohydrate supply during the very early stages of shoot development affected the subsequent performance of leaves and fruit throughout the remainder of the season

Summary

Introduction

Consumers want fruit and vegetables to fit their desire for a ‘perfect’ product [1,2]. They use aesthetic cues such as fruit size, shape, skin colour, freedom from external blemish [3,4] as well as perceived health benefits [5] as selection criteria when purchasing fruit. A small number of more recent studies have shown that differences in fruit quality characteristics within plants can be large [17,18,19]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion