Quality of Irrigated Apples in the Semiarid Region of the Northeast of Brazil

Abstract

-The great solar radiation in the Brazilian semiarid region, combined with an adequate irrigation management, favors fruit production and quality of crops that were adapted to this region. The objective of this work was to evaluate the fruit quality of two apple cultivars grown in the Sub-Mid São Francisco River Valley under different irrigation water depths. A complete randomized block experimental design in a split-plot arrangement with five replications was used. The plots consisted of four irrigation water depths (ID) (60, 80, 100 and 120% of the reference evapotranspiration -ETo), the subplots consisted of two apple cultivars (C) (Julieta and Princesa) and the sub-subplots consisted of fruit positions in the tree canopies (FP) (east and west sides). The soluble solids content (SS), titratable acidity (TA), SS/TA ratio, pulp firmness (PF) and fresh weight (FW) of the fruits were evaluated. The factors evaluated showed no triple interaction between the evaluated factors, however, the SS and TA were significantly affected by them; the interaction between ID and C significantly affected the PF; the interaction between ID and FP significantly affected the PF, SS/TA ratio and FW; and the interaction between C and FP significantly affected the SS/TA ratio. The increase in water depth increased the fruit size of both cultivars, without compromising the post-harvest quality. The cultivar Princesa presented the best results regarding SS, TA, PF and FW, however, both cultivars had organoleptic characteristics within the recommended standards for commercialization. The fruits harvested on the west side presented better post-harvest quality.Keywords: Water regimen. Malus domestica Borkh. Post-harvest. QUALIDADE DOS FRUTOS DE MACIEIRAS IRRIGADAS NO SEMIÁRIDO NORDESTINORESUMO -A elevada radiação associada ao manejo adequado da irrigação no semiárido brasileiro favorece o aumento da produção e a qualidade dos frutos de culturas adaptadas a região. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a qualidade dos frutos de duas variedades de maçãs cultivadas na região do Vale Submédio do Rio São Francisco sobre diferentes lâminas de irrigação. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, com parcelas subsubdivididas, com cinco repetições, sendo as parcelas principais quatro lâminas de irrigação (60; 80; 100; e 120 % da evapotranspiração de referência -ETo), as subparcelas duas cultivares de maçã (Julieta e Princesa) e as subsubparcelas as posições da copa da planta (leste e oeste). Avaliou-se o teor de sólidos solúveis (SS), a acidez titulável (AT), a relação entre SS/AT, a firmeza de polpa (FP) e a massa de matéria fresca do fruto (MMFF). Não se observou interação tripla entre os fatores avaliados, mas houve um efeito significativo das características SS e AT, da interação entre lâminas e cultivares para FP, da interação entre lâminas e posição para FP, razão de SS/AT e MMFF e da interação entre cultivares e posição para relação SS/AT. O aumento da irrigação promoveu aumento do tamanho dos frutos, das duas cultivares, ...

Production, gas and biochemical exchanges in pear cultivated in semi-arid region under different irrigation managements

“…As found in other studies evaluating the production of crops from temperate climate, Oliveira et al (2017a) observed an increase in the average weight of apple fruits due to the increment in irrigation depth in the Brazilian semi-arid region.…”

Physiological and biochemical responses of apple trees to irrigation water depth in a semiarid region of Brazil

“…In this respect, the increase in RWC during fruiting corroborates observations by Oliveira et al (2017), who evaluated the effect of different irrigation water depths on the quality of apple fruit under semiarid conditions, and found that 120% ET0 is recommended for the production of larger fruits without compromising post-harvest commercial quality.…”

“…Among temperate climate crops, apples have achieved good yield in the semiarid regions of Brazil due to their adaptability to the edaphoclimatic conditions; examples include the cultivars 'Princesa' and 'Julieta' Oliveira;Cavalcantem, 2012). Several studies have demonstrated the feasibility of apple production in Brazilian semiarid regions (De Oliveira et al, 2017;Oliveira et al, 2017).…”