ISHS Acta Horticulturae 732: VIII International Symposium on Canopy, Rootstocks and Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems
A PORTABLE NON-DESTRUCTIVE QUALITY METER FOR UNDERSTANDING FRUIT SOLUBLE SOLIDS IN APPLE CANOPIES |
| Authors: | H. Bessho, K. Kudo, J. Omori, Y. Inomata, M. Wada, T. Masuda, Y. Nakamoto, H. Fujisawa, Y. Suzuki |
| Keywords: | fruit quality, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, portable spectrometer, oBrix |
| Abstract:
The sugar content of an apple is one of the major characteristics affecting fruit quality. A new portable non-destructive quality meter using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was used to measure soluble solids of apple fruit. The correlation coefficients of the relationship between the actual soluble solids and the estimated soluble solids were more than 0.8 with standard error predictions less than 0.5oBrix. The NIR method can be used to determine soluble solids in apple fruit. Seasonal changes in soluble solids of growing fruit can be estimated by temperature compensation of the calibration equation. A 9-year-old 'Fuji'/M.9 EMLA tree and a 15 year-old 'Fuji' /M.9 tree were used for measurements of soluble solids in different canopy positions. The soluble solids of fruit in the bottom region of the canopy of the 15-year-old tree were low. Fruit in all positions in the 9-year-old tree had higher soluble solids than fruit in the 15 year-old tree, regardless of position. Soluble solids were correlated with the percentage of full sunlight in the apple canopy. The fruit soluble solids distribution pattern is related to the light condition in the apple canopy. Thus, rapid non-destructive determinations of fruit soluble solids may be useful in developing practices to improve light distribution and therefore the production of high quality apples. A portable non-destructive measurement system might be a powerful tool to easily estimate fruit quality in the apple canopy. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
