New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Relationship between canopy density and fruit quality of kiwifruit
W. P. SNELGAR+
G. HOPKIRK
The Horticulture and Food Research
Institute of New Zealand Ltd
Mt Albert Research Centre
Private Bag 92 169
Auckland, New Zealand
R. J. SEELYE
P. J. MARTIN
The Horticulture and Food Research
Institute of New Zealand Ltd
Te Puke Research Centre
No. 1 Road, RD 2
Te Puke, New Zealand
P. J. MANSON
The Horticulture and Food Research
Institute of New Zealand Ltd
Mt Albert Research Centre
Private Bag 92 169
Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract The influence of canopy density
on fruit
quality was investigated during 2 years in two commercial kiwifruit
(
Actinidia deliciosa `Hayward') orchards in Te Puke, New Zealand. One
orchard had a history of producing fruit which store well, whereas the other
tended to have a dense canopy, and high losses of fruit during coolstorage. In
each orchard we adjusted pruning regimes to produce open, or dense canopies,
with mean leaf area index (LAI) values ranging from 3.0 to 5.5. There was a
tendency for vines with dense canopies to have more premature fruit drop and
more soft fruit on the vine at harvest; reduced accumulation of dry matter in
fruit during maturation; fruit with lighter, more vivid, more yellow/brown
skin; lighter, less vivid, and less green flesh; reduced fruit firmness after
long-term storage; increased fruit losses during storage because of stem end
rots; and fruit with different textural properties, but similar flavour and
aroma. However, in many instances differences were found between fruit from the
two orchards which could not be attributed to variations in canopy density.
Although some of the effects related to canopy density were statistically
significant, most were small and probably not of commercial importance.
Keywords kiwifruit; fruit quality; postharvest storage; leaf
area index; maturity; fruit colour; sensory quality
+All correspondence to senior author.
H96023
Received 3 May 1996;
accepted 14 May 1998
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (825K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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