Abstract
This study was performed to verify the influence of the levels of leaf carbohydrates on the fruit quality of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin trees subjected to chemical thinning for three years using different Ethephon concentrations. Five concentrations of Ethephon were tested: 0, 200, 400, 600 and 800 mg L-1, which were applied during the stage of fruit development when fruits were from 25 to 30 mm in transverse diameter. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, with four blocks and four plants per plot. Interactions were observed between the concentrations of Ethephon and the year of assessment for the percentage of thinning, transverse diameter, longitudinal diameter, mass, soluble solids, acidity and the ratio of fruits. For the contents of carbohydrates, there was an interaction between the concentrations of Ethephon, the years of assessment and the leaf sampling times (flowering and harvest). Maintenance of high levels of leaf carbohydrates resulted in improvement of the quality of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin fruits. Chemical thinning conducted with Ethephon concentration of 600 mg L-1 maintained carbohydrate levels suitable to improve the quality of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin fruits.
Highlights
The ‘Ponkan’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) stands out as one of the most popular and appreciated mandarins for fresh consumption as well as for industrial processing (RAMOS et al, 2009)
The literature shows that application of chemical thinning in a single year promotes improvement of the quality of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin (CRUZ et al, 2009, 2011; RAMOS, et al, 2009), it is necessary to evaluate the effect of regular application of this practice in subsequent years, as reducing the number of remaining fruits in just one year can affect the reserves of carbohydrates and promote excessive production of fruit of irregular sizes in the following year
Interactions were observed between the concentrations of Ethephon and the year of assessment for the percentage of thinning (PT), transverse diameter (TD), longitudinal diameter (LD), mass (MA), soluble solids (SS), acidity (A) and ratio (RA) of fruits (Table 1)
Summary
The ‘Ponkan’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) stands out as one of the most popular and appreciated mandarins for fresh consumption as well as for industrial processing (RAMOS et al, 2009). 349-356, July-Sept., 2013 productive years by maintaining the carbohydrate reserves in plants, promoting flowering the year and developing fruits of higher quality Among these management practices, chemical thinning that reduces competition between sinks, improving the characteristics of remaining fruits by increasing the supply of metabolites, has been highlighted (GARCIA-LUIS et al, 2002). The literature shows that application of chemical thinning in a single year promotes improvement of the quality of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin (CRUZ et al, 2009, 2011; RAMOS, et al, 2009), it is necessary to evaluate the effect of regular application of this practice in subsequent years, as reducing the number of remaining fruits in just one year can affect the reserves of carbohydrates and promote excessive production of fruit of irregular sizes in the following year. This study was performed to verify the influence of the levels of leaf carbohydrates on the fruit quality of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin trees subjected to chemical thinning for three years using different Ethephon concentrations
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