Abstract
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is among the most grown fruit crops worldwide with high economic and nutritional value. In Kenya, the papaya industry relies heavily on imported varieties and farmers’ selected seed whose quality is not known. Therefore, the morphological and quality characteristics of mature fruits of eight newly developed papaya hybrids and their control, Sunrise solo were assessed using papaya descriptors (International Board for Plant Genetic Resources). The results showed significant differences in fruit sizes among the newly developed papaya hybrid lines and the control, Sunrise solo with Line 4 having the longest and heaviest fruits. Fruits from Sunrise solo, lines 2, 3, 7 and 8 ranged from small to medium in size, while those of lines 4 and 6 were large. Line 1 had the shortest shelf life of 4 days while Line 7 had the longest shelf life of 11 days. The total soluble solids (TSS) varied from 7.4 in Line 8 to 12.3% in Lines 5 and 7. Hence, most newly developed papaya hybrids Lines showed traits that were comparable to or exceeded those of Sunrise and could be suitable for both local and export markets. However, there is a need to evaluate and characterize the newly developed papaya hybrid lines in different agro-ecological zones in order to monitor the influences of the environment, pests and diseases. Key words: Carica papaya L., new papaya hybrid lines, morphological characteristics, shelf life, fruit quality.
Highlights
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) belonging to the family Caricaceae and order Brassicales, is among the most widely grown fruit crops worldwide
The results showed significant differences in fruit sizes among the newly developed papaya hybrid lines and the control, Sunrise solo with Line 4 having the longest and heaviest fruits
The longest mean fruit diameter of 13.3 cm was recorded in Line 6 while the shortest mean fruit diameter of 8.5 cm was observed in Line 1
Summary
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) belonging to the family Caricaceae and order Brassicales, is among the most widely grown fruit crops worldwide. Papaya is native to tropical America but it is currently grown in all tropical and subtropical countries (Nakasone and Paull, 1998; OECD, 2005; FAOSTAT, 2018) It is a trioecious medium sized crop plant with the potential to produce fruits throughout the year (Nakasone and Paull, 1998; OECD, 2005; Teixeira da Silva et al, 2007). The fruit weight varies substantially and may range from 0.2 to 12 kg depending on the environment and variety (Imungi and Wabule, 1990; OECD, 2005; Chan and Paull, 2008; Nakasone and Paull, 1998; Das, 2013; Yogiraj et al, 2014; Ayele et al, 2017). In Kenya, fruit weights of between 0.23 and 1.3 kg have been reported (Imungi and Wabule, 1990)
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