ORGANIC ACIDS AND POTASSIUM REQUIREMENT OF CALLUS TISSUE DERIVED FROM ORANGE PEEL

Authors:	O. Reuveni, A. Bar-Akiva, J. Sagiv
Abstract: Under certain conditions some 'Shamouti' oranges produce undesirable, excessively large, rough and thick peeled fruits. The disorder is a result of excessive cell division and cell growth, mainly in the albedo layer. Callus cultures derived from this layer were used to study the effect of Potassium, Calcium, Sodium, Ammonium and organic acids on growth. The highest growth rate was obtained with high Potassium levels while the other cations at high concentrations were inhibitory. Of the organic acids compared, citric and malic acids were the most efficient in inducing a higher growth rate. A high growth rate was associated with a low putrescine content of the cells and a high content of organic acids, mainly citric and malic. The results obtained will be discussed from two aspects: The interaction between organic acids and potassium as growth promotors The in vitro study results and their implication on the in vivo development of the orange peel.
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