Growth of champa fruit under agroecological conditions of Miraflores, Boyacá, Colombia

Helber Enrique Balaguera-López,Aníbal Herrera Arévalo,Daniel Cortés-Moreno

doi:10.1590/s0100-204x2012001200007

Abstract

The objective of this work was to analyze the growth of champa fruit (Campomanesia lineatifolia) as a function of growing-degree days (GDD) in the municipality of Miraflores, in Boyacá, Colombia. Thirty trees were selected at random, and 100 flowers in full bloom were marked in each tree. From the 26th day after flowering until harvest, 10 samples were taken every 15 days to determine the fruit parameters and growth rate. Temperature was recorded to calculate the GDD. From flowering until harvest, 1,489.1 GDD were accumulated over 145 days. Dry and fresh matter mass of pulp, seed, and total fruit were fitted to a logistic growth model, and three growth stages (S1, S2 and S3) were defined. In the S1, growth was slow, and the relative growth remained nearly stable, whereas the absolute growth rate (AGR) increased slowly. In the S2, maximum growth was observed. In the S3, which corresponds to maturation, dry mass increased gradually, and the AGR decreased, while the fresh pulp and total mass did not cease to increase. The polar and equatorial diameters increased linearly, while the volume followed an exponential model. Champa fruit show a simple sigmoid growth curve.

Highlights

Growth is a holistic, explanatory, and integral approximation intended to encompass plant form and functions (Hunt, 2003)
The objective of this work was to analyze the growth of champa (Campomanesia lineatifolia) fruit as a function of growing‐degree days (GDD) in the municipality of Miraflores, in Boyacá, Colombia
For the same zone (Miraflores, Boyacá), Balaguera et al (2009) reported a duration of 160 days. This considerable difference, according to Castro Neto & Reinhardt (2003), may be attributed to variations in the plant growth cycle and, to the length of the reproductive and fruit growth periods. This effect highlights the importance of expressing the growth and development of champa fruit in terms of physiological time, given that in the tropics, temperature is the environmental variable that exerts the most influence on crop development by its action on the enzymatic reactions that directly or indirectly mediate the developmental processes (Normand & Léchaudel, 2006)

Summary

Introduction

Explanatory, and integral approximation intended to encompass plant form and functions (Hunt, 2003). In fruit destined for the fresh fruit market, studies of fruit growth are generally based on the measurements of fruit diameter and fresh weight (Minchin et al, 2003) In these studies, growth curves of the transverse diameter as a function of time are most commonly employed (Casierra Posada & Cardozo, 2009) and have the advantage of being measured, nondestructive, and amenable to measurement throughout the whole growth period. Growth curves of the transverse diameter as a function of time are most commonly employed (Casierra Posada & Cardozo, 2009) and have the advantage of being measured, nondestructive, and amenable to measurement throughout the whole growth period These curves are useful for defining the progression of growth during the cycle under specific weather conditions, and for projecting the harvest‐weight of the fruit (Hunt, 1990). Stated that the recorded observations were used to select the most appropriate descriptive function

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion