Fruit Shape Index Research Articles

Effects of time and height of shading on yield and quality of pineapple

Effects of time and height of shading on the sunburn rate, yield and quality of pineapples were investigated in order to provide a theoretical basis for high-quality pineapple production. Golden pineapple was used as the material, and three shading times (30 d, 45 d, and 60 d after flower-fading), and the heights of 0 cm, 20 cm, and 40 cm (the distance from the top of the plant) were set. Golden pineapple’s internal and external fruit qualities were measured. The results showed that the incidence of sunburn of pineapple fruits increased with the delay of the shading time, and no differences were found among three heights at 30 d after flower fading. When pineapple plants were shaded at 30 d after flower fading and at height of 0 cm, pineapple fruits showed good external qualities, including larger fruit size, less fruit eyes, less fruit shape index, larger fruit hardness, higher edible rate and good internal qualities, including higher soluble solid content, higher soluble sugar content and lower total acidity. Shading at 30 d after flower fading and at height of 0 cm was suggested in pineapple production.

Effect of intra-row spacing on plant growth, yield and quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum mill) varieties at mizan-aman, southwestern Ethiopia

The productivity of tomato is influenced mainly by environmental factors, agronomic practices and cultivar potential. Accordingly, a field experiment was conducted at Mizan-Aman, southern Ethiopia in 2016/ 2017 to evaluate the effect of intra-row spacing (20, 30, 40 and 50 cm) on the performance of three tomato varieties(Fetan, Bishola and Roma VF) with the constant inter-row spacing of 70 cm in completely randomized block design with three replications. Data on crop phenology, growth performance, yield and quality parameters were recorded and subjected to analysis of variance using SAS version-9 software. Results of the study indicated that both intra-row spacing and variety had a significant effect on phenology as well as parameters including; the number of branches, the number of fruit cluster and fruit per plant, fruit weight, total fruit yield, marketable and unmarketable yield and total soluble solids (TSS). However, the number of fruits per cluster, fruit shape index, titratable acidity (TA) and pH were significantly different only among varieties, while plant height was significantly affected by intra-row spacing. Closer spacing enhanced early maturity, while wider intra-row (50 cm) produced a maximum number of branches, cluster and fruits per plant, fruit weight, unmarketable yield and TSS. Generally, 20 and 30 cm intra-row spacing was found to be suitable for the production of maximum total and marketable yield. From the three tomato varieties, Fetan was early maturing with the highest total and marketable yield. The varieties were also significantly different in fruit weight, with the highest value obtained from Bishola followed by Fetan. The outcome of this study revealed that, the intra-row spacing of.30 cm and variety Fetan could be promoted for production in Mizan-Aman and similar agro-ecologies.

QTL Mapping for Cucumber Fruit Size and Shape with Populations from Long and Round Fruited Inbred Lines

To gain insight into the molecular and genetic basis of fruit size and shape in cucumber, we conducted Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping with F 2 and BC 1 F 1 populations derived from a cross between the Northern-China type inbred line CNS21 and the Southern-China type inbred line RNS7. Populations were evaluated during two developmental stages, ovary at anthesis and commercial fruit (immature fruit). A total of 13 major-effect QTLs ( R 2 > 10%) were detected for six traits, and one of them, fruit shape index 2.1 , explained more than 50% of phenotypic variation. All QTLs distributed on chromosome (chr) 1 and 2. We constructed a physical map containing almost all of the QTLs with their physical location from previous studies. For fruit size and shape, the highest number of QTLs were mapped on chr1 and chr6, and the fewest number were mapped on chr2 and chr7. At least one consensus region was presented on each chromosome. In addition, three candidate genes were predicted between the long-fruited and round-fruited inbred lines by comparing the sequences of the consensus region of chr3, where many QTLs for marketable fruit length had been detected. Our results provide a base for additional QTLs and molecular markers for fruit size and shape in cucumber breeding.

Genetic diversity and interrelationship among Indian and exotic melons based on fruit morphology, quality components and microsatellite markers.

Seventy melon (Cucumis melo L.) accessions comprising of landraces, inbred lines, cultivars, wild relatives and exotic populations were characterized using fifteen fruit traits and 30 SSR markers. Overall, aim of this study was to investigate the genetic relatedness across origins, horticultural groups and accession categories. Significant differences were observed for days to first fruit maturity, fruit weight, fruits per vine, yield per plant, flesh thickness, fruit shape index, total soluble solids, β-carotene, ascorbic acid and titrable acidity. Twenty-four polymorphic SSRs detected 67 distinct alleles with moderate polymorphic information content (0.43) and genetic diversity (0.44). Observed heterozygosity (0.53) was higher than expected heterozygosity (0.48) which can be attributed to out-cross nature of melons. Neighbor joining tree based on SSRs diverged 70 accessions into six clusters independent of geographic sites of collections. Momordica and inodorus accessions formed distinct clusters, with some exceptions. Intermixing of landraces, modern cultivars and exotic accessions belonging to different taxa and geographic regions indicated genetic resemblance with each other. Hybridization among exotic and indigenous genetic resources can be utilized for genetic enhancement and introgression of new traits in modern melon cultivars.

Evaluating Morphological Growth, Yield, and Postharvest Fruit Quality of Cucumber (Cucumis Sativus L.) Grafted on Cucurbitaceous Rootstocks

Grafting is a substitute technique to boost tolerance against abiotic stresses, which also diminish root syndromes from soil-borne pathogens and increase crop production. This piloted study evaluates the tongue grafting technique and investigates the influence of grafting hybrid cucumber (Kalam F1) scion onto local cucurbitaceous and hybrid rootstocks on plant morphology, fruit yield, nutrients concentration in different plant organs, and postharvest fruit quality during three seasons of 2017 to 2019, consecutively. The research design was completely randomized (CRD), and the effects of grafted rootstocks were determined with comparison of percent plant survival, growth characteristics, fruit yield, and texture properties (during storage). The experimental results indicated that all rootstocks presented compatibility with hybrid cucumber (Kalam F1) scion and showed significant comparable performance with hybrid rootstock during all seasons in terms of vegetative growth, yield, and storage except pumpkin (68% during the 1st, 74% during the 2nd, and 71% during the 3rd seasons). The plants with Bottle gourd (Lagrenaria siceraria) rootstock showed the highest survival rate as compared to all other cucurbitaceous and hybrid rootstocks during three seasons: 94%, 98%, and 93%, respectively. Similarly, the other factors such as plant height (613, 622, and 615 cm), fruit weight (282, 281, and 277 g), fruit shape index (7.77, 8.18, and 8.25), Total soluble solids (TSS) (5.1%, 5.17%, and 4.96%), fruit dry matter (4.55%, 4.625, and 4.57%), fruit yield (4.37, 4.9, and 3.95 kg/plant), and disease resistance index (<3) during three seasons were comparable with all other cucurbitaceous and hybrid rootstocks. The lower survival rate of pumpkin rootstock made a significant poor performance with lower growth, yield, nutrients, and storage than all other cucurbitaceous rootstocks. Ridge and Bitter gourds showed improved results for vegetative growth, yield, fruit characteristics, nutritional values, and storage performance than that of hybrid cucumber rootstock. The fruit textural and physical properties were found significantly better at 10 °C than 25 °C for 10 days of storage without quality deterioration, while no impact was perceived on physical properties of the fruit. According to economic analysis, the grafted cucumber production system showed higher net return and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in comparison with the real rooted hybrid cucumber production system, which was assumed to be profitable practice.

Effects of Different Leaf Area Index on Fruit Quality andproduction ofHuangguogan

In this experiment, Citrus Huangguogan was used as the test material, and5 leaf area index (LAI) treatments were set. The fruit quality and production of each treatment were measured and analysed. With the decrease of LAI, single fruit weight, horizontal diameter, vertical diameter, total soluble solids, content of total sugar and sugar-acid ratio increased. Meanwhile, fruit shape index and content of Vc didn’t differ significantly, and content of TA decreased significantly. The yield per mu increased first and then descend, simultaneously, the number of fruits per plant, and the yield per plant increased. T1 (2.0) was the appropriate LAI of Huangguogan, under which the yield was higher and the fruit quality was the best.

Combining ability and heterosis studies in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) for quality traits and yield

Thirty crosses were done in tomato using ten genotypes as lines and three genotypes as testers in line × tester mating design. All the crosses along with parents were evaluated for combining ability and heterosis for quality traits and yield. H-86 was the good general combiner for titrable acidity, ascorbic acid, lycopene and shelf life, Azad T-5 was the good general combiner for TSS. Best specific combiner for TSS and fruit yield was Fla 7171 × Sel-7. A perusal of GCA/SCA variances revealed that SCA variances were of higher magnitude than GCA variances for yield, ascorbic acid and titrable acidity. It shows the preponderance of non-additive gene action governing these traits. For the fruit shape index, TSS, lycopene and shelf life, the GCA variance was of higher magnitude than the SCA variance, indicating the predominant role of additive gene action. The ratio of σ2gca / σ2sca is less than unity for all characters except fruit shape index, titrable acidity and ascorbic acid which also indicated the preponderance of non additive genetic variance. Best heterotic combination, for fruit yield and TSS was Fla 7171 × Sel-7, for fruit shape index was H-24 × Azad T-5, for ascorbic acid was Kashi Amrit × Kashi Sharad, for lycopene was H-86 × Azad T-5 and for shelf life was Floradade × Azad T-5. High heritability (>60%) combined with high genetic advance (>20%) was observed for shelf life, fruit yield, lycopene, TSS which indicates that these traits can be improved by simple selection.

Tomato Phenotypic Diversity Determined by Combined Approaches of Conventional and High-Throughput Tomato Analyzer Phenotyping.

Morphological variation in vegetative and fruit traits is a key determinant in unraveling phenotypic diversity. This study was designed to assess phenotypic diversity in tomatoes and examine intra- and intervarietal groups’ variability using 28 conventional descriptors (CDs) and 47 Tomato Analyzer (TA) descriptors related to plant and fruit morphometry. Comprehensive phenotyping of 150 accessions representing 21 countries discerned noticeable variability for CD vegetative traits and TA quantified fruit features, such as shape, size, and color. Hierarchical cluster analysis divided the accessions into 10 distinct classes based on fruit shape and size. Multivariate analysis was used to assess divergence in variable traits among populations. Eight principal components with an eigenvalue >1 were identified by factor analysis, which contributed 87.5% variation to the total cumulative variance with the first two components contributing 32.0% and 18.1% variance, respectively. The relationship between vegetative and fruit descriptors was explained by respective CD and TA correlation networks. There was a strong positive correlation between fruit shape and size whereas negative correlations were between fruit shape index, internal eccentricity, and proximal end shape. The combined approach of CD and TA phenotyping allowed us to unravel the phenotypic diversity of vegetative and reproductive trait variation evaluated at pre- and post-harvest stages.

Diversity and Comparative Evaluation of Fruit Traits of 46 Chinese Cherry Landraces

Chinese cherry[Cerasus pseudocerasus (Lindl). G. Don], belonging to the genus Cerasus, famliy Rosaceae, is an ancient fruit crop with high economic and ornamental values. Forty-six Chinese cherry landraces from three major distributed regions in China were collected to evaluate the genetic diversity and fruit characteristics. All landraces exhibit rich diversity in main fruit traits, such as peel color, fruit shape and size. The peel shows six different colors with the main color is red and orange-red. The fruit size ranges from to 7.68 mm / 7.52 mm (transverse / longitudinal diameter) to 23.01 mm / 22.99 mm (transverse / longitudinal diameter), with the fruit shape index from 0.77 to 1.16.Thirty-one landraces have more than 2.00 grams per fruit, with the largest being 7.10 grams (LYI6), and the smallest being 0.25 grams (SP8). The total soluble solid content is from 9.52% (ZT2) to 18.56% (SP8) among all landraces. XC4 shows the highest vitamin C content (8.05 mg·100mL−1), followed by BJ7a (7.35 mg·100mL−1) and JN1 (6.57 mg·100mL−1). By comprehensive evaluation, these landraces, LYI3, LYI5, WN2, BJ7, BJ7a, ZWY5, XC4, HC, HF, JY4 and PZB, show good and excellent fruit traits, revealing great potentiality for Chinese cherry breeding program.

Genetic Variability in Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum MILL) Genotypes in the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Investigation of variability existing in crop cultivars is important to crop improvement. The study was conducted at Melkassa Agricultural Research Center (MARC) to assess the genetic variability among 36 tomato genotypes using 6*6 simple lattice designs. There were significant differences among genotypes all traits. High phenotypic and genotypic variances were recorded for number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, fruit shape index and juice volume indicating the existence of substantial variability. High heritability along with high genetic advance as percent of the mean was exhibited by characters viz. plant height, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, fruit shape index and juice volume, reflecting the presence of additive gene action for the expression of these traits and selection based on them would be ideal. Generally, the present study implied the presence of genetic variability among the test genotypes with respect to the traits considered indicating an opportunity to bring about fruit yield improvements in snap bean either through direct selection or hybridization.

Effect of manures, soil recipes and PGPR on soil and plant quality parameters in bell pepper

The present investigation was aimed to understand the effect of Manures, Soil Recipes and PGPR and was carried out in research farm, Department of Soil Science and Water Management, DR YSPUHF Nauni-Solan. The experiment was carried out for two consecutive years 2016 and 2017 in mid hills conditions of Himachal Pradesh. Research trial comprised of 7 treatments with T1 is 100% RDN (Recommended dose of nutrients) and from T2 to T7 there was 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40 % RDN with PGPR and Soil recipes i.e. Panchagavya, Jeevamrut and Amritpani. The results revealed that among soil physicochemical properties of soil, pH value ranged from 6.77 to 7.56 and EC values ranged from 0.58 dSm-1 to 0.79 dSm-1. The maximum (1.19) value of fruit shape index was observed in treatment T2 and minimum (0.91) in treatment T7. The maximum TSS value was recorded under treatment T6 (5.20 ºBrix) and lowest was recorded in treatment T3 (4.02ºBrix). The maximum (4.12 mm) pericarp thickness was recorded in treatment T5 and minimum (3.11 mm) pericarp thickness was recorded in treatment T2. The longest (29 days) harvest duration was observed under treatment T4 and the shortest (25.67 days) harvest duration was revealed in T2. This leads to conclusion that there was no significant effect of manure, Soil recipes like Panchagavya, Jeevamrut and Amritpani and PGPR on soil pH, EC and on plant growth parameters like fruit shape index, Total soluble solids, pericarp thickness, harvest duration and days taken to flowering and first harvest.

Yield, quality and drought sensitivity of tomato to water deficit during different growth stages

In areas where the supply of water for irrigation is limited, tomato production is often subject to drought stress. In order to investigate the drought sensitivity of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) yield and quality during different growth stages, field and pot experiments were conducted in a high tunnel in southern China during the 2013 and 2016 growing seasons. The experiments consisted of four treatments. Crops were drip-irrigated to 100 % of field capacity at all growth stages divided into treatment T1 (control) and the treatment group T2, T3 and T4 receiving half the amount of irrigation as T1 when the soil water content reached 70 % of field capacity, the vegetative phase (stage I) T2, the flowering and fruit development phase (stage II) T3, and the fruit ripening phase (stage III) T4. Compared to the control treatment, drought stress at stages II and III caused a decrease in yield of 13 % and 26 %, respectively. Fruit firmness and color index were positively affected by drought stress, while fruit water content and shape index did not show any differences between treatments. Taste and nutritional quality parameters, such as total soluble solids, soluble sugar, organic acids and vitamin C improved in response to limited water supply (p ≤ 0.05). Despite having a negative effect on fruit yield, drought stress applied at stage III tended to enhance fruit quality traits. This study found that applying drought stress at stage I can be a positive management approach as it saves water and has fewer negative effects compared to applying drought stress at the other critical growth stages, thereby minimizing the adverse effects of drought stress.

Gibberellin and the plant growth retardant Paclobutrazol altered fruit shape and ripening in tomato.

Fruit shape and ripening are major horticultural traits for many fruits and vegetable crops. Changes in fruit shape and ripening are often accomplished by altered cell division or cell expansion patterns. Gibberellic acids (GAs) are essential for tomato fruit development; however, the exact role and the underlying mechanism are still elusive. To elucidate the relationship between gibberellins and fruit shape and ripening in tomato, GA3 and gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitor paclobutrazol (PAC) were applied to tomato. Fruit shape index was increased when GA3 was applied, which was mainly attributed to the increased organ elongation. The expression levels of genes involved in cell elongation and expansion were altered at the same time. In addition, GA delayed the ripening time by regulating the transcript levels of ethylene-related genes. By contrast, PAC application decreased fruit shape index and shortened fruit ripening time. These results demonstrate that manipulation of GA levels can simultaneously influence tomato fruit shape and ripening. Further studies aimed to regulate fruit shape and ripening can be achieved by altering GA levels.

EVALUATION OF YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF SEVERAL ECOTYPES OF CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cornus mas L.) IN POLISH CONDIOTIONS

Cornelian cherry is a little-known plant that can be grown in Poland both on a commercial and amateur scale. The commercial cornelian cherry plantations should be established using selected cultivars or vegetatively propagated valuable ecotypes, as only this guarantees a uniform yield, maturation and standardization of fruit quality. The experiment was carried out in 2014 and 2015 in the private plantation of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) located in Dąbrowica, near Lublin (22.454 N; 51.270 E). The subject of the research were ecotypes No.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15 obtained as seedlings in 1998. Cornelian cherry plants obtained from seeds differed very much in the yield and quality of fruit. The fruit characteristics for the examined ecotypes ranged to 1.63–2.21 g for fruit weight, 1.30–1.61 for fruit shape index, 10.13–15.32% for content of stone, 17.85–22.68% for soluble solids content (SSC), 2.32–3.0% for titratable acidity (TA), 6.59–8.36 for SSC/TA, 54.9–75.97 for vitamin C content. Among the ecotypes studied in terms of external fruit features, ecotypes No. 3 and 4 were distinguished due to the largest fruits (mass and diameter) and relatively small share of the stone in the whole mass of the fruit. However, due to the chemical composition, the fruits of ecotype No. 5 were distinguished by the content of extract, extract to acids ratio, sugar, dry matter, anthocyanins and vitamin C content. These fruits enjoyed 55% strong acceptability among adults. The indicated ecotypes can be used in breeding as well as in nursery for obtaining valuable varieties of cornelian cherry for production in Poland.

Rheological evaluation of industrial tomato

Today, tomato has the second largest harvesting area globally, and the fourth largest in Hungary. The importance of industrial tomato is growing year by year, and one of the most important tasks is to satisfy the needs of the industry. To meet these needs, the producer has to find the proper genotype, which can achieve up to 100 t ha-1 crop yield. This quality has high importance to be researched.
 The experiment was carried out in the Botanical and Exhibition Garden of the University of Debrecen, with 3 examined genotypes. The planting date was 3 of May 2018. The harvesting was two-threaded. On 27 of July the physical parameters – fruit shape index (length/diameter), firmness (kg cm-2), water-soluble dry matter content (Brix%) and weight of the berries (g) – were evaluated. On 15 of August the rheological parameters were examined – the force needed to tear the skin – bioyield point (g) and flesh firmness (g).
 The fruit shape index was oval (between 1.19 and 1.24) for all the examined genotypes. The firmness was between 0.92 (UG1122713 F1) and 1.05(Prestomech F1) kg cm-2, which compliance the needs of the industry. The water-soluble dry matter content was suitable, with a value between 4.49 (Prestomech F1) and 4.65 (UG1122713 F1) Brix%. The weight of the berries was between 45.94 (UG989 F1) and 49.37 (Prestomech F1) g per piece.
 The bioyield point was between 76.00 (UG1122713 F1) and 85.16 (UG989 F1) g. The flesh firmness was between 33.68 (UG1122713 F1) and 42.81 (UG989 F1) g.
 Finally, we can conclude based on the obtained data that the UG989 F1 hybrid was the most proper for the applied cultivation conditions. This genotype can be recommended for the farmers even in extreme weather conditions.

Target sequencing reveals genetic diversity, population structure, core-SNP markers, and fruit shape-associated loci in pepper varieties

BackgroundThe widely cultivated pepper (Capsicum spp.) is one of the most diverse vegetables; however, little research has focused on characterizing the genetic diversity and relatedness of commercial varieties grown in China. In this study, a panel of 92 perfect single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was identified using re-sequencing data from 35 different C. annuum lines. Based on this panel, a Target SNP-seq genotyping method was designed, which combined multiplex amplification of perfect SNPs with Illumina sequencing, to detect polymorphisms across 271 commercial pepper varieties.ResultsThe perfect SNPs panel had a high discriminating capacity due to the average value of polymorphism information content, observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, and minor allele frequency, which were 0.31, 0.28, 0.4, and 0.31, respectively. Notably, the studied pepper varieties were morphologically categorized based on fruit shape as blocky-, long horn-, short horn-, and linear-fruited. The long horn-fruited population exhibited the most genetic diversity followed by the short horn-, linear-, and blocky-fruited populations. A set of 35 core SNPs were then used as kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASPar) markers, another robust genotyping technique for variety identification. Analysis of genetic relatedness using principal component analysis and phylogenetic tree construction indicated that the four fruit shape populations clustered separately with limited overlaps. Based on STRUCTURE clustering, it was possible to divide the varieties into five subpopulations, which correlated with fruit shape. Further, the subpopulations were statistically different according to a randomization test and Fst statistics. Nine loci, located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12, were identified to be significantly associated with the fruit shape index (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsTarget SNP-seq developed in this study appears as an efficient power tool to detect the genetic diversity, population relatedness and molecular breeding in pepper. Moreover, this study demonstrates that the genetic structure of Chinese pepper varieties is significantly influenced by breeding programs focused on fruit shape.

HETEROSIS AND COMBINING ABILITY IN MELON (CUCUMIS MELO L.)

The purpose of this study was to estimate heterosis, general and specific combining ability in melon hybrids to identify the best combinations during the period from 2017 to 2019 at the Vegetable Research Farm, Horticultural Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Kaha and Dokki, Egypt. Six parents and their respective hybrids were evaluated in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The following traits were assessed of: main stem length, number of leaves, average fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, flesh thickness, fruit cavity, fruit shape index, TSS and total yield/fed. The heterotic expression for total yield was the most important trait in this investigation. Potence ratio that measured the average of dominance confirmed the partial dominance for plant length and total yield but over-dominance appeared in the other characters. The range of both types of F1 heterosis for studied characters indicated that the expression of heterosis varied according to different crosses and characters investigated. The results showed significant and highly significant mean squares for both GCA and SCA in all studied traits except fruit shape index, indicating the important role of both additive and non-additive gene effects in the expression of these traits. However, a greater ratio of GCA/SCA than unity as detected for number of leaves, fruit diameter, fruit weight, TSS and total yield revealing that the inheritance of these traits mainly was controlled by additive gene action. The estimates of GCA effects in individual parental genotypes of the F'1s generation were significant and highly significant for the most studied traits. However, the crosses (P1×P3) and (P2×P4) achieved highly SCA effects for the most traits in this study, which means that GCA effects of the parents were reflected in the SCA effects in the crosses for the most studied traits.

Effect of On-Tree Storage on Fruit Quality of Three Pummelo (Citrus grandis Osbeck) Cultivars

In this study, to provide basis for postharvest storage, the effect of on-tree and indoor storage on fruit quality of three pummelo (Citrus grandis Osbeck) cultivars was evaluated. We compared the fruit quality by these two storage methods. For external fruit quality, peel thickness decreased significantly with the increase of indoor storage times. The granulation index of on-tree fruits reached the maximum value of 0.63 in ‘Hungjinmiyou’ for 90 days. After 90 days for on-tree storage, three pummelo cultivars started to reveal storage taste. The remaining index such as weight per fruit, fruit shape index, segment and edible rate revealed no obvious change trends between on-tree and indoor storage methods. There were no obvious change trends in the content of total soluble solid, reaching the maximum value of 11.12%, 10.87%, and 11.17% for 60 or 90 days for on-tree storage. While for indoor storage, TSS content revealed a decrease - rise - decrease trend. Vitamin C and sugar contents decreased with the increase of on-tree storage times. The flesh chromatism of on-tree fruits turned to light red in ‘Sanhongmiyou’ and ‘Hongroumiyou’, while it kept stable with orange- yellow in ‘Huangjinmiyou’. Taking external and internal fruit quality into consideration, it is better to store for 90 days on-tree and indoor for ‘Sanhongmiyou’ and ‘Hongroumiyou’, 60 days for ‘Huangjinmiyou’, respectively. By comparison, fruits on-tree storage showed better quality than that by indoor storage.

HETEROSIS AND COMBINING ABILITY FOR SOME FRUIT QUALITY TRAITS OF EGYPTIAN MELON INBRED LINES USING LINE × TESTER ANALYSIS

This study was carried out during the period from 2016 to 2018 summer seasons in the open field at Kaha Vegetable Research Farm (KVRF), Kalubia, Egypt. Thirty local inbred lines of melon ( Cucumis melo var. ananas ) were evaluated in this investigation during 2016 and 2017 summer seasons in the open field to determine their mean performance. Based on the former evaluation, 12 inbred lines (RIL A2, RIL A3, RIL A7, RIL A8, RIL A14, RIL A18, RIL A19, RIL A22, RIL A23, RIL A26, RIL A29, RIL A30) and 3 testers (RIL A5, RIL A10 and RIL A20) were selected to determine their genetic performance using line × tester mating design during 2018 summer season. Thirty six crosses in one direction were conducted in the plastic house of Kaha Vegetable Research Farm, Kalubia through the 2017 late summer season. The 36 hybrids were evaluated along with their parents to determine heterosis, combining ability and heritability of leaf area index (LAI), yield components, average fruit weight, netting percentage, fruit shape index (FSI), seed cavity diameter, flesh thickness and total soluble solids (TSS). The genotype results showed highly significant mean squares for most of the studied traits. Inbred lines (female parents), Testers (male parents) and Line x Tester interaction showed highly significant differences of almost whole traits. Some crosses revealed highly significant and significant mid-parent and better-parent heterosis for many of the traits. The inbred line RIL A5 (T5) showed higher positive general combining ability (GCA) impact for all traits except early yield and FSI, which could be used as parent in breeding programs and the potential parent (good combiner) that in selection program would be effective for its efficient use in subsequent crossing programs for more LAI, total yield, marketable yield percentage, average fruit weight, netting percentage, flesh thickness, TSS and less seed cavity diameter. Nine, eight, twelve and seven hybrids revealed highly significant and significant specific combining ability (SCA) impacts of early yield, total yield, average fruit weight and TSS, respectively. The best specific combining ability (SCA) was observed in hybrids RIL A29 × RIL A5 for early yield, RIL A19 × RIL A20 for total yield and RIL A8 × RIL A10 for average fruit weight and TSS. The results confirmed the presence of genetic differences among the genotypes (female and male parents) and heterosis of crosses indicating the existence of predominance of nonadditive gene action in genetic control of the studied traits.

Selection of Fertilizer and Cultivar of Sweet Pepper and Eggplant for Hydroponic Production

Dutch bucket hydroponic trials were conducted with the aim to evaluate the effects of different hydroponic fertilizers (5N-4.8P-21.6K, 5N-5.2P-21.6K, and 7N-3.9P-4.1K) on growth, fruit production, and the fruit quality (fruit shape index) parameters of two cultivars of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and on two cultivars of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). For sweet pepper yield, the 5N-4.8P-21.6K fertilizer was responsible for the greatest yield for both cultivars. For sweet pepper fresh and dry shoot weight interaction, the ‘Orangella’ cultivar had greater growth in 5N-4.8P-21.6K and 5N-5.2P-21.6K fertilizers, whereas there was no difference among cultivars in 7N-3.9P-4.1K. Shape index was not affected by fertilizers or cultivars. For the eggplant yield, there was no main effect nor interaction between fertilizers and cultivars for fruit yield, while the interaction between fertilizers and cultivars was significant for shoot fresh weight production. Shoot fresh weight was greater for ‘Angela’ than ‘Jaylo’ in 5N-4.8P-21.6K and 7N-3.9P-4.1K. Furthermore, both eggplant cultivars were affected with yellowing of fruits in all fertilizer treatments after 2 months, which was probably due to the accumulation of nutrients in the closed hydroponic system. Therefore, hydroponic producers could select 5N-4.8P-21.6K and 5N-5.2P-21.6K fertilizers for the cultivation of the ‘Orangella’ cultivar of sweet pepper based on yield. It is important to evaluate more fertilizers and cultivars for eggplant hydroponic cultivation.