Mustafa PEKTAŞ, Mustafa KELEN, Fatih Ali CANLI

Effects of pre-harvest plant growth regulator sprays on fruit quality of 'Deveci' pear (Pyrus communis L.)

This study was conducted to evaluate effects of the pre-harvest benzyladenine (BA) (50 ppm, 100 ppm and 150 ppm) and BA + Gibberallic acid ($GA _{4+7,}$) (12,5 ppm, 25 ppm and 50 ppm of each) applications on fruit quality in ‘Deveci’ pear (Pyrus communis L.). The pear trees were sprayed with BA or BA + $GA _{4+7,}$ 14 days after full bloom. Fruits were harvested at their maturity and evaluated right after harvest in terms of size, firmness, pedicel length, and soluble solids content (SSC). The effects of BA and BA + $GA _{4+7,}$ on pedicel length, SSC and acidity were significant. Fruit treated with 25 ppm BA + $GA _{4+7,}$ 100 ppm BA or 150 ppm BA had significantly higher SSC than the control. 12.5 ppm BA and 50 ppm BA treatments increased the titretable acid content of the fruit as compared to the control. There were no significant differences in fruit size, pH and firmness among the treatments.

PDF

___

[1] Itai A. 2007. Pear. In: Genome mapping and molecular breeding in plants. Fruit and Nuts (C. Kole., Ed.). Vol. 7. pp. 137-156. Springer
[2] Looney NE. 1993. Improving fruit size, appearance, and other aspects of fruit crop "quality" with plant bioregulating chemicals. Acta Horticulturae. 329:120- 127.
[3] Lawes GS, Woolley DJ. 2001. The commercial use of plant growth regulators to regulate fruit development. Acta Horticulturae. 553:149-150.
[4] Greene DW. 2003. Preharvest plant growth regulators that influence pome fruit maturity and quality. 4th annual meeting Plant Growth Regulation Society of America. 16–19.
[5] Palavan-Ünsal N. 1993. Hormonlar ve Meyvelenme. Bitki Büyüme Maddeleri. Yayın No:b3677. 197–211. İstanbul
[6] Zhang C, Lee U, Tanabe K. 2008. Hormonal regulation of fruit set, parthenogenesis induction and fruit expansion in Japanese pear. Plant Growth Regulation. 55: 231 – 240.
[7] Ozga J, Reinecke MD. 2003. Hormonal interactions in fruit development. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation 22:73–81.
[8] Hedden P. 1999. Recent advances in gibberellin biosynthesis. Journal of Experimental Botany. 50: 553– 563.
[9] Stern AR, Flaishman MA, Shargal A. 2002. Effect of synthetic cytokinin CPPU on fruit size and yield of ‘Spodana’ pear. Acta Horticulturae. 596:797-801.
[10] Buban T. 2000. The use of benzyladenine in orchard fruit growing: a mini review. Plant Growth Regulation. 32: 381–390.
[11] Stern AR, Flaishman MA. 2003. Benzyladenine effects on fruit size, fruit thinning and return yield of ‘Spodana’ and ‘Coscia’ pear. Scientia Horticulturae. 98:499–504.
[12] Bangerth FK. 2004. Internal regulation of fruit growth and abscission. Acta Horticulturae. 636:235–248.
[13] Looney NE. 1996. Principles and practice of plant bioregulator usage in cherry production, p. 279–298. In: A.D. Webster and N.E. Looney (eds.). Cherries: Crop physiology, production and users. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.
[14] Kappel F, MacDonald RA. 2002. Gibberellic acid increases fruit firmness, fruit size, and delays maturity of ’Sweetheart’ sweet cherry. Journal of American Pomological Society 56: 219–222.
[15] Usenik V, Kastelec D, Stampar F. 2005. Physicochemical changes of sweet cherry fruits related to application of gibberellic acid. Food Chemistry 90:663–671.