Abstract
Seedlessness is an important economic trait relating to fruit quality, and gamma irradiation is a common technique used to obtain seedless citrus fruits. Herein, we report a study of new seedless ‘Murcott’ mandarin clones obtained by bud irradiation from the self-compatible not parthenocarpic ‘Murcott’ mandarin. All irradiated clones examined presented lower seed numbers (from 0.23 to 2.47 seeds per fruit) and reduced pollen germination (from 1.40% to 8.55%) whereas the wild-type ‘Murcott’ showed an average number of 9.03 seeds per fruit and a pollen germination value of 47.15%. Fruit quality and nutritional bio-components were affected differently; some clones presented no changes compared to the control ‘Murcott’ mandarin, while other clones showed significant differences. High-performance liquid chromatographic methods were used to identify and quantify of these compounds, using photodiode array, mass and refractive index detectors. Our results indicated high contents in natural antioxidants as vitamin C (from 20.13 to 25.73 mg/100 mL) and phenolic compounds, as flavonoids, in these citrus varieties cultived under the Mediterranean climate. Some of these clones, which ripen late in the season and whose fruit quality is maintained or improved, are in the process of registration. In conclusion, budwood irradiation is a suitable technique to improve cultivars, produce seedless cultivars, adjust ripening time or raise the content of health-promoting compounds. Also this study investigates the influence of temperature during flowering on the number of seeds formed. Findings indicate that low temperatures during flower formation decreased pollen germination and seed number.
Highlights
Seedlessness is important in relation to fruit quality, and the production of fruits with few or no seeds has steadily increased (Ye et al, 2009)
Seedlessness in citrus mandarin cultivars can be induced by many factors, and many seedless citrus cultivars have been originated from the bud mutation of seedy cultivars (Yamamoto et al, 1995; Shen, 1997; Vardi et al, 2008)
The clones were selected based on fruit seed number
Summary
Seedlessness is important in relation to fruit quality, and the production of fruits with few or no seeds has steadily increased (Ye et al, 2009). Most recently we have obtained different clones from irradiated budwood of the seedy ‘Moncada’ mandarin, self-incompatible parthenocarpic cultivar, assessing the quality characteristics of the fruit, chemical composition and seed number (Bermejo et al, 2011a). Some authors have reported that irradiation affects seed formation in the fruit, and lowers acidity and increases lycopene carotenoid (Hensz, 1977) or favours early ripening (Hearn, 1986), while other have reported no changes in seedless cultivars of grapefruits, mandarins and oranges obtained by γ-irradiation of buds (Froneman et al, 1996). Different clones of the self-compatible not parthenocarpic ‘Murcott’ mandarin, obtained by gamma irradiation, were studied to assess seedlessness, pollen germination, fruit characteristics and quality attributes. Findings indicate that low temperatures during flower formation decreased pollen germination and seed number
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