Growth and water relations of field-grown ‘Valencia’ orange trees under long-term partial rootzone drying
Climate, soil water potential (SWP), leaf relative water content (RWC), stem water potential (WPstem), stomatal conductance (g s), trunk, shoot and fruit growth of ‘Valencia’ orange trees were monitored during five consecutive seasons (2007–2012) to study water status and growth responses to irrigation placement or volume. 48 adult trees were exposed to conventional irrigation (CI, 100% of crop evapotranspiration on both sides of the rootzone), partial rootzone drying (PRD, 50% of CI water only on one alternated side of the rootzone) and continuous deficit irrigation (DI, 50% of CI water on both sides of the rootzone). Reducing irrigation volumes by 55% (DI) over CI increased leaf water def…
Yield and Fruit Quality Characterization of Eight Old Sicilian Apple Cultivars
In this trial, we examined the quality of eight old Sicilian apple cultivars (‘Cannamelo’, ‘Cardinale’, ‘Gelata Cola’, ‘Gelata’, ‘Granatino’, ‘San Giuseppe’, ‘Virticchiaro’, ‘Zitella’) and a commercial one (‘Annurca’ traditional clone) through bio-agronomic performances and chemical-physical analyses. We also analyzed flowering time, ripening time, pomological characteristics, and generated a specific descriptor list that indicates a great variability among the cultivars. The data obtained showed interesting characteristics in ‘Granatino’, ‘Virticchiaro’, and ‘Zitella’, such as total soluble solid, fruit size, peel cover color, yield efficiency, and crop load.
Ploidy levels in Citrus clementine affects leaf morphology, stomatal density and water content
The objective of the present study was to understand the relationship among leaf morphology, stomatal characteristics and water relations in triploids generated through anther culture and their counterpart diploid plant of C. clementina. Triploid plants possessed small and narrow leaves as compared to diploid plant as evident by less leaf length, leaf width and leaf area. By contrast, the leaf index was observed to be more in triploids than haploid ones. Flow cytometric analysis re-confirmed the ploidy levels of heterozygous plant Hd as diploid and the ploidy of Th1, Th2, Th3 and Th4 plants as triploids. A positive relation was found between ploidy level and stomatal guard cell length and w…
Fruit Yield and Quality of ‘Valencia’ Orange Trees under Long-Term Partial Rootzone Drying
Climate, soil and tree water status, fruit yields and quality of &lsquo
Comparative study on the quality characteristics of some Egyptian mango cultivars used for food processing
This study aims to investigate the physical, chemical, rheological and sensorial properties of six common mango (Mangifera indica) cultivars in Egypt. These common cultivars were Alfonse, Sedeka, Awis, Sinara, Sukari and Zibdia. Weights of mango fruits ranged between 246.6 and 549.2 g. The highest significant value of sphericity was in Alfonse fruits (0.82), whereas the lowest value was 0.58 in Sinara fruits. The highest firmness value was 29.51 N in Sedeka fruits. The highest elasticity was 1.16 N/mm for Sukari fruits. The significantly color intensity chroma was recorded by Sinara, whereas the highest total color index (ΔE) was 88.41 for Sedeka mango cultivar. The significantly lowest pH …
Deficit irrigation does not affect alternate bearing of ‘Valencia’ orange trees
This study evaluated the effect of long-term partial rootzone drying and continuous deficit irrigation on the degree of alternate bearing of adult ‘Valencia’ orange trees grown in northern Sicily. Three irrigation strategies were imposed in summer from 2007 to 2011: irrigation with volumes corresponding to 100% of crop evapotranspiration applied to entire rootzone (CI), partial rootzone drying (PRD) with 50% of CI water applied to one alternated side of the rootzone, and continuous deficit irrigation (CDI) with 50% of CI water applied to both sides of the rootzone. The experiment was conducted on 48 adult orange trees arranged according to a randomized block design. Weather and soil paramet…