Effect of population and organomineral fertilization on physico-chemical quality of fruits of Passiflora edulis cv. Guinezinho

Abstract

The phyto-technical management of crops, such as the conduction system, spatial arrangement of plants and mineral and organic fertilization are pre-harvest agronomic factors that can alter fruit quality. Therefore, this research was developed to evaluate physico-chemical attributes of yellow passion fruit as a function of population arrangement and organomineral fertilization. The experiment was carried in Entisol with free-sand texture under tropical climate with dry summer. The treatments were obtained from the combination of doses of nitrogen (92, 119, 183, 248 and 275 kg ha-1) and soil organic matter (1.3, 1.8, 2.9, 4.0 and 4.5%), through Central Box Compound, plus four additional treatments to study the effect of the number of plants per pit. The evaluations were carried on seven and ten months after the transplanting of the seedlings. A randomized block design with three replications was used. The fruits were harvested at the beginning of the yellowing of the bark and evaluated in the pulp: pH, total titratable acidity (TTA), total soluble solids (TSS), reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars and total sugars, ascorbic acid, TSS/TTA ratio, electrical conductivity and humidity. The harvesting season changed the physico-chemical properties of the passion fruit pulp and interfered with the effects of plant management and fertilization on the quality of passion fruit. For the production of the best quality passion fruit we may cultivate one, two or three plants per pit. With three plants per pit it is recommended to apply 180 kg ha-1 of nitrogen annually and raise the soil organic matter to 4%.