Adaptability and stability of peach and nectarine cultivars in subtropical climate

Abstract

Information on adaptability and stability of fruit production in different environments or years is crucial to increasing agricultural production potential. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether there is interaction between cultivars and years, as well as to assess the stability of peach and nectarine cultivars regarding fruit fresh mass, SS/TA ratio, and cycle length in Viçosa -MG, Brazil. The characteristics fruit fresh mass (FM), soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio (SS/TA), and cycle length (CL) were evaluated in 28 cultivars of peach and two cultivars of nectarine from the orchard of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The methods used to determine the phenotypic stability across time were Eberhart & Russell (1966) and the Traditional. The interaction cultivars x years was significant for all traits. Cultivar ‘Josefina’ showed broad adaptability for SS/TA ratio, and cultivars ‘Flordaprince’ and ‘Tropical’ for cycle length. For favorable environments, the cultivars ‘Capdebosq’ and ‘Maciel’ are indicated regarding the characteristic fruit mass, and ‘Coral’ and ‘Talismã’ for SS/TA ratio. ‘Rubimel’ was adaptable to unfavorable environments regarding fruit mass.

Quality of peach fruits Jarillo cv. (Prunus persica L.) in Pamplona, Colombia

“…The highest interaction of profiles was observed in pH and TSS ( o Brix), which means that in different time segments, the maximum or minimum response value was found in different thermal levels, presenting a chaotic pattern similar to climatic variables involved, which indicates that the environment probably acted in the expression of the variables found in the work of Matias et al, (2017) and Cremasco et al, (2016) in Brazil.…”

“…Matias et al (2014a), Fischer et al (2012b) and Minas et al (2018) indicate that at higher altitudes of the thermal level (from 1,500 masl), there is less rainfall and RH and, therefore, the TSS content ( o Brix) and bark firmness were higher at harvest time corresponding to stage 87, as was presented at the end of thermal levels of 2170 and 1870 masl, during fruit maturation. MR tends to increase for the three thermal levels in a lower proportion for 1870 masl, as acidity decreases and sugar contents increase in the fruit, taking into account that the absolute value depends on the culture analyzed (MATIAS et al, 2017). Low MR may indicate poor quality of fruits in terms of flavor, for example, at thermal level located in Chitaga at 1870 masl, where the lowest MR was presented, which can be considered a good indicator to obtain high quality fruits, according to Comiotto et al, (2013).…”

“…It has been reported that peach varieties that grow in altitude American tropics are in many cases derived from trees such as the Jarillo variety in Pamplona that has been adapted by natural selection to the tropical climate. Other characteristics of varieties for exploration in the tropics are their high ability to form flower buds in regions close to the equator, where there are no large photoperiod variations or very low temperatures that induce defoliation and changes in fruit biochemical processes (MATIAS et al, 2017;COSTA AND SILVA et al, 2014;FISCHER et al, 2010). Among the parameters most used to define fruit quality are size, shape, weight, color and chemical substances such as acidity, TSS (° Brix), TTA (% malic acid), sugar content and some volatile compounds associated with the secondary metabolism that determine aroma, parameters that also serve to determine the quality of the final product and control processes (MORAIS et al, 2017;MATIAS et al, 2017;CREMASCO et al, 2016).…”

“…The quality attributes that have greater relevance in fruits are: color, firmness, soluble solids content, acidity and sugars: acids ratio (MATIAS et al, 2017;MATIAS et al, 2016;SILVA et al, 2016). Fischer et al (2012a) reported that high quality fruits require an adequate relationship between leaves and fruits.…”

“…Peach fruits considered of good size are those with more than 59 mm in diameter. Standardizing or classifying the product by size is one of the usual practices of preparation for fresh consumption market (MATIAS et al, 2017). However, color and size are the attributes most valued by the consumer (MORAIS et al, 2017, CREMASCO et al, 2016.…”