Abstract
‘Williams’ is the highly quality pear cultivar mostly produced in the Eğirdir region of Turkey. ReTain (15% aminoethoxyvinilglycine, AVG) is a plant growth regulator used to control pre-harvest drop and increase fruit weight and firmness. The objective of this study was to determine the responses of AVG treatments on the preharvest drop and fruit quality of ‘Williams’ pear. Pear trees of the cultivar ‘Williams’ were sprayed 30, 21 and 7 days before commercial harvest (DBH) with AVG, at doses of 100, 125 and 150 mg L-1, and assessed for pre-harvest drop, yield, maturity, delay in harvest, fruit quality, ethylene production and respiration rate at the harvest time. Fruit samples were analyzed for fruit quality parameters which are: fruit width, fruit weight, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), fruit firmness, fruit colour, fruit macro and micro elements content. Maturation of the 30 and 21 DBH AVG-treated fruits were delayed 3-4 days compared to the 7 DBH AVG-treated and control groups. The pre-harvest drop decreased with all AVG applications by approximately 38-100% in comparison with the control group fruits. AVG treatments increased fruit size (7-10%), fruit weight (26-41%) and fruit firmness (2-16%) of ‘Williams’ pear. AVG application reduce ethylene production and respiration rate and it was found that the applications enhance the ethylene production and respiration rate by approximately (100%) compared to the control fruits on the harvest date. Results of this study indicated that 30 DBH and 21 DBH AVG-treatments at 100 mg L-1 can be recommended for ‘Williams’ pear cultivar on both pre-harvest fruit drop, as well as in harvest date and fruit quality.
Highlights
Pre-harvest drop of pears happens because the fruit developed an immaturity, and in most cases, economic damage usually causes a serious economic loss
Control and 7 days before harvest (DBH) AVG-treated fruits were harvested on the 21st September while 30 and 21 DBH AVG applied fruits were harvested on the 24th September
It was observed AVG treatments delayed harvest time by 3 days. It was reported in many studies done with pears and apples that AVG applications delay harvest time showing similarities with our findings (Clayton et al 2000; Schupp & Greene 2004; Greene 2006; Petri et al 2006; Rath et al 2006; WookJae et al 2006; Kang et al 2007; Whale et al 2008)
Summary
Pre-harvest drop of pears happens because the fruit developed an immaturity, and in most cases, economic damage usually causes a serious economic loss. Pre and post-harvest applications of AVG have been evaluated as a tool to enhance production and quality attributes of climacteric fruits (Çetinbaş et al 2012). Pre and post-harvest treatments with AVG inhibited ethylene production and delayed harvesting of pears (Romani et al 1983) and peaches (Çetinbaş & Koyuncu 2011). With the ‘Barlett’ pear, preharvest AVG treatments either 14 or 7 days before harvest did not affect ethylene production at harvest, but delayed changes in skin colour, softening and starch content (Clayton et al 2000). This study was conducted to determine the effects of AVG applications different doses, sprayed 30, 21 and 7 days before commercial harvest, on pre-harvest drop, fruit maturity and fruit quality of ‘Williams’ pears. Hasat Öncesi ReTain (Aminoethoxyvinylglycine, AVG) Uygulamalarının ‘Williams’ Armut Çeşidinde Hasat..., Butar & Çetinbaş
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