Fruit canopy position and harvest date influence on colour and quality of Imperial mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco)

Abstract

Rind colour and taste are important factors influencing consumer acceptance of mandarins (Citrus reticulata Blanco) fruit. In this experiment, the influence of fruit canopy position and harvest date on the fruit rind colour and other quality parameters of Imperial mandarins was investigated. The mandarin fruit were harvested from four different positions in the tree canopy i.e., upper-inner, upper-outer, lower-inner and lower-outer and at three different harvest dates (H1 (five days before commercial harvest date); H2 (commercial harvest date) and H3 (five days after commercial harvest date). The experiment was conducted using a two factors (fruit position and harvest time) factorial randomised block design with four replicates and fifteen fruit per replicate. Rind colour and the quality of Imperial mandarins were significantly affected by the fruit position in the tree canopy, with the fruit harvested from the upper canopy having better rind colour and higher levels of organic acids and sugars compared to other positions. The late harvested (H3) mandarins exhibited the best fruit colour. In conclusion, the Imperial mandarin fruit had better fruit colour as well as quality when harvested from the upper canopy and by delaying the fruit harvest date by five days from the original commercial harvest date.