Abstract
‘Fuji’ is among the most cultivated apples worldwide but affected by the disorder bitter pit (BP). Calcium deficiency plays an important role on fruit susceptibility to BP. The objectives of this study were to determine nutritional relationships in BP-affected fruit and to verify if Vis-NIR models can predict Ca concentration in ‘Fuji’ apples. Fruit was harvested during 2018 season from two different orchards with historical high BP incidence. Seven hundred and fifty apples were stored at 0 °C for 150 days plus 10 days at 20 °C for BP assessments. After storage, 20 fruit with BP symptoms (BP+) and 20 healthy fruit (BP−) were assessed individually for mineral concentration. Vis-NIR evaluation involved a spectra range from 285 to 1200 nm to predict Ca concentration from ‘Fuji’ powder enriched Ca solutions. In each orchard, healthy apples had significantly higher Ca concentration than apples with BP. The K/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios were significantly lower in healthy fruit compared with BP− affected fruit. The relationship B/Ca proved to be significant in BP fruit. Although Ca interaction with organic substances and/or cellular structures could influence NIR spectra in fresh fruit, our results showed that Vis-NIR models could not be used to direct prediction of fruit Ca concentration.
Highlights
The ‘Fuji’ apple has become the most popular commercial apple cultivar in the Asian market due to its distinctive crispness, sweetness, and attractive appearance with a high price among the traditional cultivars [1]
Bünemann [6] studied the nutrient concentrations in pit-affected areas and healthy tissue, and found a relationship between nutrients and bitter pit (BP), since the disorder did not develop upon Ca deficiency alone
NIRabsorbed radiationby is ionic not absorbed ionicasnutrients. Spectroscopy to determine such nutrients in plant tissues can only be accomplish by indirect calibration, the use of NIR spectroscopy to determine such nutrients in plant tissues can only be accomplish by indirect calibration, in other words, by chemical and/or structural changes indirectly related with Ca concentration in the fruit
Summary
The ‘Fuji’ apple has become the most popular commercial apple cultivar in the Asian market due to its distinctive crispness, sweetness, and attractive appearance with a high price among the traditional cultivars [1]. In the 19300 s, bitter pit was already a subject of study for many researchers In these early years, the idea of a nutritional unbalance was already hypothesized, as well the possibility that a ‘failure’ in the vascular system could be related to nutritional changes leading to BP incidence in the fruit [5,6]. Askew et al [7] studied the incidence of pitting and the numerical ratios of nutrient for diagnostic purposes. All these studies lead to the conclusion that the primary elements involved in BP are Ca, Agronomy 2020, 10, 1476; doi:10.3390/agronomy10101476 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy
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