Abstract
Loss of mass, shatter and decay are undesirable for fresh grapes, as they decrease the cluster quality during post-harvest conservation. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of abscisic acid (S-ABA) application on ‘Rubi’ grapes’ loss of mass, shatter, decay incidence and conservation periods. ‘Rubi’ grapes’ clusters used in the experiment were gotten from a commercial vineyard located in the town of São Miguel Arcanjo, SP, Brazil (23° 31’ S, 47° 35’ W and 660 m above sea level). The experimental design was completely randomized with subdivided plots and six replicates; the plots represented the concentration levels of S-ABA and the subplots represented the assessment days, starting on the day of harvest, extending up to 18 days after harvest. The concentrations of the isomer (S)-cis-abscisic acid (S-ABA) used were: Control (0 mg L-1); 400 mg L-1 of S-ABA at the beginning of maturation (BM); 400 mg L-1 in the BM + 200 mg L-1 at 25 days after the first application (25 DAFA); and 400 mg L-1 in the BM + 400 mg L-1 at 25 DAFA. The clusters were placed in expanded polystyrene trays and stored at room temperature (25.0 ± 5°C and 50 to 85% relative humidity (RH)). The loss of mass, berry shatter and decay incidence were assessed over the post-harvest conservation periods. The S-ABA influenced the evaluated characteristics. One application of S-ABA reduced shatter and decay incidence, while two applications (400 mg L-1 in the BM + 400 mg L-1 at 25 DAFA) reduced the loss of mass. Key words: Post-harvest conservation, grapes, abscisic acid, shatter, decay incidence, cluster quality.
Highlights
In Brazil, table grapes have increased their importance in national and international markets in recent years, the trend has been observed since the mid-1990s (Agrianual, 2015)
It was observed that the lowest LM during storage was obtained with the application of 400 mg L-1 of S-ABA in the beginning of maturation (BM) + 400 mg L-1 at 25 days after the first application (25 days after the first application (DAFA)), evidenced by presenting the lowest value of the equation’s angular coefficient (1.17), followed by the control treatment (1.31); 400 mg L-1 in the BM (1.34); and 400 mg L-1 in the BM + 200 mg L-1 at 25 DAFA (1.52)
After applying 400 mg L-1 in the BM + 400 mg L-1 to 25 DAFA, every day in storage there was 1.17% of LM, 12% below the values that had been obtained in the control treatment, 1.31% of LM was added every day in storage
Summary
In Brazil, table grapes have increased their importance in national and international markets in recent years, the trend has been observed since the mid-1990s (Agrianual, 2015). The cluster loss of the quality is, partially, caused by its loss of water, senescence or necrosis and the berry softening, color changes, shatter and decay incidence (Carvajal-Millan et al, 2001; Youssef and Roberto, 2014a,b). The occurrence of these changes in grape post-harvest quality varies according to the cultivar, cultural practices adopted in the vineyard, and storage conditions (Carvajal-Millan et al, 2001; Crisosto et al, 2002). It has been demonstrated that the exogenous application of (S)-cis-abscisic acid (S-ABA) can overcome the lack of color in colored grapes through the synthesis of anthocyanins, which are pigments that impart color to the fruits (Roberto et al, 2012; Koyama et al, 2014)
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