Reproductive phenology of yellow pitaya in a high-altitude tropical region in Brazil

Abstract

Pitaya species cultivation in Brazil is recent, and information on the production of the species Selenicereus megalanthus, known as yellow pitaya, is non-existent because research in the country has focused on the species Hylocereus undatus. The research was carried out with the objective of evaluating the reproductive phenology of the species S. megalanthus, in a high-altitude climate conditions in Brazil. The study orchard of yellow pitaya was located at an altitude of 726 metres, 18º 04' 15" S latitude and 43º 28' 15" W longitude, and has an Aw climate, classified as high-altitude tropical. Phenological evaluations were carried out through visual observations, from the beginning of floral button formation until the end of the fruit harvest, during three production cycles. On each plant, flower buds were marked to determine the time from floral button formation until flower anthesis and from flower fertilisation until fruit ripening. The period of flowering and harvesting of the yellow pitaya was determined according to the phenological stage records. Flowering began in the spring, with successive flowering events until the autumn. The time between floral button formation until anthesis ranged from 46 to 55 days. The time from flower fertilisation until fruit ripening ranged from 96 to 110 days. Fruit harvest began in the summer and ended in winter. The reproductive cycle of S. megalanthus is longer than H. undatus and H. polyrhizus, which are also cultivated in Brazil, ranging from 147 to 166 days from floral button formation to fruit harvest.

Phenotypic Diversity of Morphological Characteristics of Pitahaya (Selenicereus Megalanthus Haw.) Germplasm in Colombia

“…The multivariate and cluster analyses showed that the cladode and fruit characteristics showed higher variability among the morphological traits (Figure 5a,b). Although many authors find positive results, morphological and agronomic characteristics used to measure genetic diversity in certain populations of individuals often do not allow identification of discrete taxonomic groups since most plant characteristics are influenced by environmental factors, exhibiting continuous variation and a high degree of phenotypic plasticity [28]. This study demonstrated that the natural populations of pitahaya from the five departments showed high variation in the morphological characteristics that were evaluated in situ.…”

Productive potential and quality of pitaya with nitrogen fertilization

“…Besides showing low vegetative vigor, S. megalanthus flowering season does not coincide with the that of the other species cultivated in the experimental area (Rabelo et al, 2020a). This fact may affect size and yield, since even being a selfcompatible species, pollen viability is reduced because S. megalanthus is a tetraploid plant (2n=44), with irregular meiosis occurring in anaphase I (Lichtenzveig et al, 2000).…”

Producción de brotes en pitahaya (Hylocereus sp.): Correlación con variables climáticas

“…Similar a lo señalado en otros estudios, que reportan entre 3-5 ciclos de floración por año en Hylocereus spp. (Nerd et al, 2002;Marques et al, 2011;Kishore, 2016;Martínez-Ruiz et al, 2017), y también para pitahaya amarilla S. megalanthus (Rabelo et al, 2020), pero inferior a lo documentado por otros investigadores, que encontraron entre 5 y 9 ciclos por año (Ángel et al, 2012;Silva et al, 2015;Osuna-Enciso et al, 2016). En una prueba con 30 genotipos de pitahaya realizada en Taiwán, el número de ciclos de floración varió entre tres y seis por año, según el genotipo (Ha et al, 2018).…”