Changes in vascular and transpiration flows affect the seasonal and daily growth of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) berry

Abstract

The fruit growth model adopted by this species changes during the season due to anatomical modifications in the fruit features.

Recurrent deficit irrigation and fruit harvest affect tree water relations and fruitlet growth in ‘Valencia’ orange

“…On the other side in May, nearly mature fruit may lose water back to the stems (and act as water reservoirs) when water potential gradients are inverted due to particularly low leaf water potential (i.e., midday) and high leaf transpiration. Similar evidence of backflow from fruit to stem has been documented in orange (Rokach, 1953), apple (Lang, 1990) and kiwifruit (Morandi et al, 2010b).…”

Fruit calcium accumulation coupled and uncoupled from its transpiration in kiwifruit

“…A similar 50% reduction of the evaporative destiny of the daily water entering the fruit upon reduced VPD has been observed in low-transpiring tomato fruit (Leonardi et al, 2000;Guichard et al, 2005) who changed VPD through misting technique. Reduction of the evaporative destiny at lowered VPD agreed with previous observation in kiwifruit (Morandi et al, 2010a). Clearwater et al (2012) compared over a 30-day period the effect of microclimate (dry or humid) of the growing environment on water budget in a ripening fruit of a closely related species (Actinidia chinensis) showing that at the wetter environment transpirational water losses were a less dominant feature of the water balance.…”

Sugar demand of ripening grape berries leads to recycling of surplus phloem water via the xylem

“…However, this pathway may be limited by the extensibility of the exocarp (skin): the increasing stiffness of the epidermis with its cuticular wax is thought to set the upper bounds on fruit expansion (Matthews et al 1987; Thompson et al 1998;Bargel & Neinhuis 2005;Saladié et al 2007;Khanal et al 2013). Fruit transpiration, meanwhile, is a rather ineffective pathway for water disposal (Patrick 1997) because it declines during fruit development and is subject to fluctuation because of changes in vapour pressure deficit (VPD) (Rebucci et al 1997;Rogiers et al 2004;Morandi et al 2010;Montanaro et al 2012). More than 80 years ago, Münch (1930) posited that excess phloem water entering fruits with low transpiration rates may be recirculated by the xylem.…”