Abstract
ABSTRACT Among many management practices used in melon crops, those that change source: sink relationship, such as pruning and fruit thinning, directly influence production, affect fruit size and its composition, including sugar and vitamin contents. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of pruning of the main stem and time of fruit thinning in melon postharvest quality. Thus, two experiments were set up in Mossoró, state of Rio Grande do Norte, each with a melon hybrid (Amaregal and Banzai). Each experiment was conducted in a randomized block, in a (2 x 4) + 1 factorial design, 2 pruning management (with and without pruning), 4 levels of fruit thinning (3, 6, 9 and 12 DARB - days after removal agro textile blanket) and a control (without pruning and thinning), and four replications. Fruits were harvested at commercial maturity and transported to the Laboratory of Food Technology of UFERSA, where they were evaluated for the following characteristics: weight, diameter, length, flesh thickness, flesh firmness, soluble solids, pH, and titratable acidity, soluble solids: titratable acidity ratio and vitamin C. No interaction between factors in any of the experiments was found. Titratable acidity (0.077%) and vitamin C content (3.4 mg/100 g) in Amaregal melon and soluble solids (10.2%) in Banzai melon were lower in the treatments with stem pruning. In Amaregal melon, fruits showed longer length (134 mm) and greater flesh firmness (40 N) when thinning was carried out on 6 DARB, and as thinning was delayed, it found a decrease in the values of soluble solids, SS: TA ratio and pH. In Banzai melon, fruits showed greater flesh thickness (33.5 mm) and SS: TA (247.5) ratio when thinning was carried out on 6 DARB. However, delay in thinning promoted an increase in pH and vitamin C content of the fruits. Pruning of the main stem and thinning season had effect on the quality of Amaregal and Banzai melons in different ways.
Highlights
Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is an important commercial crop in Brazil due to its large contribution for the Brazilian trade balance
Among several management practices used in melon crop, those that change drain: sink relationship, such as stem pruning and fruit thinning, directly influence production, affect fruit size and its composition, including contents of sugars and vitamins (Lee & Kader, 2000; Long et al, 2004; Queiroga et al, 2009)
Pruning of the main stem and thinning season influenced the quality of Amaregal and Banzai melons in different ways
Summary
Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is an important commercial crop in Brazil due to its large contribution for the Brazilian trade balance. Among several management practices used in melon crop, those that change drain: sink relationship, such as stem pruning and fruit thinning, directly influence production, affect fruit size and its composition, including contents of sugars and vitamins (Lee & Kader, 2000; Long et al, 2004; Queiroga et al, 2009). Pruning of the main stem has a positive effect in fruit quality (Pereira et al, 2003; Lins et al, 2013) due the breaking of plant apical dominance, resulting in the growth of lateral branching and vigorous expansion of leaf area, resulting in a higher uptake of photoasimilates for fruits (Lins et al, 2013). For Orange Flesh melon, pruning of the main stem did not change content of fruit soluble solids, for Hy Mark melon, pruning increased content of soluble solids (Pereira et al, 2003)
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