Effect of preharvest spraying with thidiazuron on fruit quality and maturity of apples

• Autor(a) principal: Amarante,Cassandro Vidal Talamini do
• Data de Publicação: 2003
• Outros Autores: Megguer,Clarice Aparecida, Blum,Luiz Eduardo Bassay
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista brasileira de fruticultura (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-29452003000100018
• topic: Malus domestica Borkh.; cytokinin; diphenylurea; skin color; fruit shape; calyx-end rot

Apple trees, cultivars Gala and Fuji, were sprayed at full bloom with thidiazuron (TDZ) at the doses of 0, 5, 10, or 20 g (a.i.) ha-1 and fruit were assessed for quality and maturity. In both cultivars, the increase of TDZ dose had detrimental effects on fruit quality, causing a reduction of fruit red surface and an increase of percentage of fruit that was asymmetrical and with calyx-end rot. TDZ caused an increment of calyx-end aperture that might have increased calyx-end rot. TDZ increased density and the length : diameter (L : D) ratio of the fruit. The number of viable seeds was not affected by TDZ. TDZ resulted in a substantial delay of fruit maturity in 'Gala' but not in 'Fuji'. TDZ also reduced soluble solids content (SSC) in 'Gala' and reduced titratable acidity in both cultivars.