ISHS Acta Horticulturae 274: International Symposium on Diagnosis of Nutritional Status of Deciduous Fruit Orchards
SOME FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CALCIUM LEVEL IN APPLE FRUITS |
| Authors: | K. Tomala, D.R. Dilley |
| Abstract:
Red Delicious apples with breakdown had a lower Ca concentration, specially in the core zone as compared with sound fruits. The distribution of Ca across the centre of Law Rome apples was different in tissue affected by breakdown than in sound tissue on the opposite side. Calcium concentration in McIntosh and Spartan apples, but not in Empire, increased with the number of seeds. Summer pruning and sprays of CaC12 and naphthalene acetic acid also increased the fruit Ca concentrations. The final Ca level of apple fruits was lowered by TIBA treatment and by phloem girdling. A greater degree of breakdown was associated with the treatments which lowered Ca level in the fruit. The results confirm that acropetal calcium transport is associated with polar basipetal auxin transport and seeds can play an important role as a source of auxin. Higher Ca levels in the Red Delicious apples were related to lower internal ethylene concentration in the fruits at harvest. The ethylene climacteric of mature preclimacteric Law Rome apples was drastically reduced by vacuum infiltrating the fruit with 0.4 M sorbitol containing 0.2 M CaCl2. | |
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