Influence of rootstock on yield, morphological, biochemical and sensory characteristics of 'Afourer' variety mandarins

Abstract

Rootstock's can affect the characteristics and quality of citrus fruit. Knowing which rootstocks produce better quality fruit is very important in late mandarin varieties, due to their high economic value. The objective of this study is to know the effects on yield and the main morphological, biochemical and sensory properties of the late mandarin variety 'Afourer' when cultivated on three different rootstocks [Citrus macrophylla Wester (CM), Mandarino Cleopatra (MC) and Citrange Carrizo (CC)]. The morphological properties (weight and dimensions) and colorimetric characteristics (external and internal fruit color) were analyzed. The main biochemical characteristics, including total antioxidant activity analyzed by ABTS and DPPH methods, organic acids and sugars determined by HPLC, and juice metabolomics by 1H-NMR, were also investigated. In addition, the juice quality was assessed by a sensory panel. The CC rootstock produced up to 77 kg of fruit/tree more than MC. Fruits cultivated on MC and CC had significantly larger dimensions, a greater orange coloration and up to 17 % more juice than fruits cultivated on CM. In terms of biochemical properties, there were no significant differences in most of the properties analyzed among the three rootstocks, highlighting only that the CM rootstock induced 13 % more fructose in the fruits than the rest of the rootstocks. Fruits cultivated on the CC and MC rootstocks had a better taste when evaluated by sensory analysis than those cultivated on the CM rootstock.