scholarly journals Impact of Grafting on Watermelon Fruit Maturity and Quality

Horticulturae ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Pinki Devi ◽  
Penelope Perkins-Veazie ◽  
Carol Miles

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) grafting has emerged as a promising biological management approach aimed at increasing tolerance to abiotic stressors, such as unfavorable environmental conditions. These conditions include environments that are too cold, wet, or dry, have soil nutrient deficiency or toxicity and soil or irrigation water salinity. Studies to date indicate that fruit yield and quality may be positively or negatively affected depending on rootstock-scion combination and growing environment. Growers need information regarding the general effect of rootstocks, as well as specific scion-rootstock interactions on fruit maturity and quality so they can select combinations best suited for their environment. This review summarizes the literature on watermelon grafting with a focus on abiotic stress tolerance and fruit maturity and quality with specific reference to hollow heart and hard seed formation, flesh firmness, total soluble solids, and lycopene content.

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dena C. Fiacchino ◽  
S. Alan Walters

During the 1999 and 2000 growing seasons in Illinois, studies were conducted to determine the influence of two pollinizers (`Crimson Sweet' and `Fiesta') and three pollinizer frequencies (11%, 20%, and 33%) on `Millionaire' seedless watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) quality and yields. More large-sized [>16 lb (7.2 kg)] `Millionaire' watermelons were produced when `Crimson Sweet' was used as the pollinizer compared to `Fiesta', which resulted in `Crimson Sweet' leading to greater marketable and total `Millionaire' yields. Pollinizers responded similarly over the pollinizer frequencies for `Millionaire' watermelon yields as no pollinizer by pollinizer frequency interaction was observed. The 20% and 33% pollinizer frequencies produced similar `Millionaire' yields per acre and both resulted in greater yields compared to the 11% pollinizer frequency. Soluble solids in `Millionaire' fruits were not influenced by pollinizer or pollinizer frequency. However, hollow heart disorder followed a quadratic response with respect to pollinizer frequency with the lowest amount of hollow heart observed at the 33% pollinizer frequency and greatest at the 11% pollinizer frequency. No significant interaction (P ≤ 0.05) was observed for pollinizer by pollinizer frequency for hollow heart disorder in `Millionaire'; although, more hollow heart disorder in `Millionaire' was observed when `Fiesta' was used as the pollinizer.


2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory S. Hendricks ◽  
Sanjay Shukla ◽  
Kent E. Cushman ◽  
Thomas A. Obreza ◽  
Fritz M. Roka ◽  
...  

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) production is concentrated in southern Florida where growers often use seepage irrigation. According to a recent survey, growers believe that nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) rates recommended by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF-IFAS) are low. A study was conducted during Spring 2004 and 2005 at a UF-IFAS research farm to compare three nutrient and water management systems: high rate [HR (265, 74, and 381 lb/acre N, P, and K, respectively)], recommended rate [RR (150, 44, and 125 lb/acre N, P, and K, respectively)], and recommended rate with subsurface irrigation (RR-S). Irrigation was managed to keep soil moisture content at 16% to 20% for HR and 8% to 12% for RR and RR-S. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with two replications and three subsample areas within each 0.25-acre plot. The HR management approach produced ≈60% to 80% higher yields (cwt/acre) during 2005 than RR or RR-S. The HR treatment produced larger watermelons than RR or RR-S in 2005. Triploid watermelon prices had to be at least $3.74/cwt to cover all costs associated with HR. The HR approach increased the grower net returns by $590/acre and $1764/acre under conservative and higher yield and price expectations, respectively. Soluble solids content and hollowheart ratings were unaffected by treatment. Total biomass, recorded during 2005, followed a similar trend as yield, with HR producing 105% and 125% greater total dry weight than RR and RR-S, respectively. Total N content of HR biomass was 56% higher than that of RR and RR-S. Total P content was 29% and 50% higher than that of RR and RR-S, respectively. Leaf and petiole tissue from the HR treatment exhibited consistently higher N and K leaf tissue values during 2005 than RR and RR-S. In conclusion, trends in the data consistently showed greater plant performance with higher rates of fertilizer and soil moisture content. Our ability to detect differences in 2005 was probably enhanced by higher rainfall during 2005 compared with 2004.


HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 1118C-1118
Author(s):  
S. Alan Walters

Cucurbit vegetable crops, such as watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), require insect pollination for fruit set, which is usually achieved by placing honey bee (Apismellifera) colonies in a field or relying upon natural bee populations. Pistillate (or female) watermelon flowers require multiple honey bee (or other bee) visitations after visiting staminate (or male) flowers for fruit set, and pollination is even more of a concern in triploid watermelon production since staminate flowers contain mostly nonviable pollen. Six honey bee visitation treatments, 1) no visitation control, 2) two visits, 3) four visits, 4) eight visits, 5) 16 visits, and 6) open-pollinated control, were evaluated to determine the effect of honey bee pollination on `Millionaire' triploid watermelon fruit set, yield, and quality utilizing `Crimson Sweet' at a 33% pollinizer frequency. No differences (P> 0.05) between honey bee pollination treatments were observed for `Millionaire' quality characters (hollow heart disorder or percent soluble solids). The lowest pistillate flower abortion rate (20%) and subsequently the greatest triploid watermelon yields (fruit numbers and weights per hectare) occurred with the openpollinated control compared to all other honey bee visitation treatments. Fruit abortion rates decreased linearly, while fruit numbers and weights per hectare increased linearly as number of honey bee visits to pistillate flowers increased from 0 (no visit control) to the open-pollinated control (≈24 visits). This study indicated that >16 honey bee visits are required to achieve maximum triploid watermelon fruit set and yields, which is twice the number of honey bee visits required by diploid watermelons to achieve similar results.


2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fouad Mohamed ◽  
Khalid El-Hamed ◽  
Mohammed Elwan ◽  
Mennat-Allah Hussien

Impact of Grafting on Watermelon Growth, Fruit Yield and QualityGrafting is an alternative approach to reduce crop damage resulting from soil-borne pathogens and increases plant abiotic stress tolerance, which in turn increases crop production. The purpose of this study was to determine whether grafting could improve plant growth and fruit quality of watermelon through monitoring the changes induced by different rootstock-scion combinations. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) cv. Aswan F1was grafted into five rootstocks (Nun 6001 F1, Strongtosa F1, Tetsukabuto F1, Ferro F1and Shintoza F1) hybrids betweenCucurbita maximaandCucurbita moschata.Highest vegetative growth and fruit yield were obtained by ‘Nun 6001 F1’ as a rootstock using the tongue approach method. Grafting reduced significantly sex ratio by reducing the number of male flowers. Grafting increased significantly lycopene content in fruit flesh by 57% over the control treatment, but did not affect soluble solids content (SSC). One third of the control non-grafted plants died andFusarium oxysporumwas isolated as the responsible pathogen. These results indicate that grafting watermelon onto specific rootstock influences growth, productivity, and quality of the fruit as well as disease resistance. Grafting can be suggested as an alternative method to control ofFusariumwilt in watermelon production.


2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elazar Fallik ◽  
Sharon Alkalai-Tuvia ◽  
Daniel Chalupowicz ◽  
Yohanan Zutahy ◽  
Merav Zaaroor ◽  
...  

Grafting is a rapid, effective alternative to the relatively slow methodology of breeding, to provide crop plants with increased tolerance to environmental stress and better yield and quality of fruit vegetables. We evaluated the effect of grafting and soil disinfestation on pre- and postharvest parameters in two consecutive years. In both 2013 and 2014, soil disinfection significantly improved the viability of nongrafted plants compared to the same plants grown in nontreated soil. In both years, plants which were grafted on “Nurit” or “TZ” rootstocks showed significantly better vine vigor, with no evidence of disease in either disinfested or nontreated soil. The yield of marketable watermelon fruit was significantly higher in grafted versus nongrafted plants. Grafting significantly influenced watermelon rind color and flesh color, and strongly influenced taste and texture. Watermelon fruit harvested from plants grafted on “Nurit” were tastier and had better flesh texture than fruit harvested from “TZ”-grafted plants. Disinfection during those two years affected only seed formation. The year factor highly influenced rind color, total soluble solids (TSS) near the rind, TSS at the fruit's heart, taste, and texture. An interaction between grafting and year was found on flesh and TSS near the rind. No grafting × disinfection × year interaction was found.


HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 1268-1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Alan Walters

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are important pollinators of triploid watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum & Nakai]. Pistillate (or female) watermelon flowers require multiple honey bee or other wild bee visitations after visiting staminate (or male) flowers for fruit set, and pollination is even more of a concern in triploid watermelon production since staminate flowers contain mostly nonviable pollen. Six honey bee visitation treatments—1) no visitation control, 2) two visits, 3) four visits, 4) eight visits, 5) 16 visits, and 6) open-pollinated control—were evaluated to determine the effectiveness of honey bee pollination on `Millionaire' triploid watermelon fruit set, yield, and quality utilizing `Crimson Sweet' at a 33% pollenizer frequency. `Millionaire' quality characters (hollow heart disorder or percent soluble solids) did not differ (P > 0.05) between honey bee pollination treatments. The open-pollinated control provided the highest fruit set rate (80%) and the greatest triploid watermelon numbers and weights per plot compared to all other honey bee visitation treatments. Fruit set, and fruit numbers and weights per plot increased linearly as number of honey bee visits to pistillate flowers increased from 0 (no visit control) to the open-pollinated control (about 24 visits). This study indicated that between 16 and 24 honey bee visits are required to achieve maximum triploid watermelon fruit set and yields at a 33% pollenizer frequency, which is twice the number of honey bee visits required by seeded watermelons to achieve similar results. This is probably due to many honey bees visiting staminate triploid watermelon flowers (that are in close proximity) before visiting pistillate flowers thus providing mostly nonviable pollen that is useless for fruit set and development. Therefore, more honey bee visits to pistillate triploid watermelon flowers would be required to achieve maximum fruit set and subsequent development compared to seeded watermelons.


Bragantia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Newdmar Vieira Fernandes ◽  
Benito Moreira de Azevedo ◽  
Joaquim Raimundo Nascimento Neto ◽  
Thales Vinícius de Araújo Viana ◽  
Geocleber Gomes de Sousa

This study evaluates the influence of different irrigation frequencies and different nitrogen fertigation frequencies on the growth performance of the watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) culture. Two experiments were conducted at the Paraguay farm in the Cruz municipality, Ceará, Brazil. They was randomized blocks design with six treatments and four replications. The irrigation frequency experiment consisted of the application of different irrigation frequencies. The treatments were: DM - daily irrigation in the morning with 100% daily dosage; DT - daily irrigation in the afternoon, with 100% daily dosage; DMT - twice daily irrigation, with 50% daily dosage in the morning and 50% daily dosage in the afternoon; 2D - irrigation every two days; 3D - irrigation every three days and 4D - irrigation every four days. To the experiment with different nitrogen fertigation frequencies, the treatments used were: 2F - 2 fertigations in a cycle; 4F - 4 fertigations in a cycle; 8F - 8 fertigations in a cycle; 16F - 16 fertigations in a cycle; 32F - 32 fertigations in a cycle and 64F - 64 fertigations in a cycle. We evaluated the marketable yield (PC), fruit weight (M), polar diameter (DP), equatorial diameter (DE), shell thickness (EC) and soluble solids (SS). The irrigation frequency treatments influenced all variables significantly, with twice daily irrigation (DMT, 50% in the morning and the 50% in the afternoon) promoting the highest productivity (69.79 t ha-1). The different frequencies of fertigation also significantly influenced all variables, except for the shell thickness, the highest yield (80.69 t ha-1) being obtained with treatment 64 fertigations in a cycle.


Irriga ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
Benito Moreira de Azevedo ◽  
Carlos Newdmar Vieira Fernandes ◽  
Joaquim Raimundo do Nascimento Neto ◽  
Thales Vinícius De Araújo Viana ◽  
Denise Vieira Vasconcelos ◽  
...  

FREQUÊNCIA DA FERTIRRIGAÇÃO FOSFATADA NA PRODUTIVIDADE DA CULTURA DA MELANCIA BENITO MOREIRA DE AZEVEDO1; CARLOS NEWDMAR VIEIRA FERNANDES2; JOAQUIM RAIMUNDO DO NASCIMENTO NETO3; THALES VINÍCIUS DE ARAÚJO VIANA1; DENISE VIEIRA VASCONCELOS3 E CHRISLENE NOJOSA DIAS FERNANDES3 [1]Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola, CCA/UFC, Av. Mister Hull, s/n, Bloco 804. Caixa Postal 12.168, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil, 60.455 970, [email protected], [email protected] Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará (IFCE), Campus Iguatu, Rodovia CE-060, Cajazeiras 63503-790 – Iguatu, CE, Brasil. [email protected] de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Agrícola, CCA/UFC, Av. Mister Hull, s/n, Bloco 804. Caixa Postal 12.168, Fortaleza-CE, Brasil, 60.455 970, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]  1 RESUMO A melancia (Citrullus lanatus) tem grande importância socioeconômica para o Nordeste brasileiro, onde o cultivo sob irrigação vem crescendo e permitindo ao produtor ofertar frutos de melhor qualidade. Objetivou-se avaliar a influência de frequências de fertirrigação fosfatada nos componentes de produção e produtividade da melancia. O delineamento adotado foi o de blocos ao acaso constituído por seis tratamentos, referentes a seis frequências de fertirrigação com fósforo, sendo: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 e 64 fertirrigações no ciclo e quatro repetições. As variáveis analisadas foram: produtividade comercial; massa média do fruto; diâmetro polar; diâmetro equatorial; espessura da casca e teor de sólidos solúveis. O aumento da frequência de fertirrigação fosfatada proporcionou um melhor desempenho da cultura da melancia. As variáveis produtividade comercial e espessura da casca foram influenciadas significativamente pelas frequências de fertirrigação com fósforo, tendo as mesmas apresentado resposta linear. A frequência de fertirrigação fosfatada de 64 fertirrigações no ciclo de cultivo proporcionou a maior produtividade da melancia. Palavras-chave: Citrullus lanatus; quimigação; ácido fosfórico; adubação fosfatada.  AZEVEDO, B. M. de; FERNANDES, C. N. V.; NASCIMENTO NETO, J. R. do; VIANA, T. V. de A.; VASCONCELOS, D. V.; FERNANDES, C. N. D.FREQUENCY OF FERTIRRIGATION WITH PHOSPHATE IN WATERMELON CULTURE PRODUCTIVITY  2 ABSTRACT Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is of great socioeconomic importance for the Brazilian Northeast, where crop under irrigation has increased and allowed the producer to offer the best quality fruits. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of frequency of fertirrigation with phosphate  components on watermelon production and productivity. The study design was a randomized block consisting of six treatments, referring to six frequencies of fertirrigation with phosphorus, as follows: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 in fertigation cycle and four replications. The variables analyzed were: commercial productivity; fruit weight; polar diameter; equatorial diameter; shell thickness and soluble solids. The increased frequency of phosphorus fertirrigation provided a better performance of the watermelon crop. The variables commercial productivity and shell thickness were significantly influenced by the frequencies of fertirrigation with phosphorus, and presented the same linear response. The 64 frequency of phosphorus fertirrigation  of the crop cycle provided the greatest productivity of watermelon. Keywords: Citrullus lanatus; chemigation; phosphoric acid; phosphate fertilization.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Alam ◽  
M. M. Hoque ◽  
S. Morshed ◽  
F. Akter ◽  
K. N. Sharmin

This study was done to analyze the effect of chemical preservatives on watermelon juice. Ten different samples of pasteurized watermelon juices with different chemical preservatives, termed as T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9, T10 , were made which were stored at 4 - 15°C for three months. T1 and T2 were rejected soon due to spoilage. pH decreased from 5.094 to 4.017 and minimum pH content was reduced in T10 (7.87%), while maximum in T1 (57.55%). The total soluble solids (TSS) increased from 17.460% to 18.980% with maximum in T1 (51.67%) and minimum in T7 (4.88%). Reducing sugar was increased from 15.650 to 17.500% with maximum in T10 (18.22%) and minimum in T2 (5.90%).  Minimum microbial load was observed in T10 (0.20cfu/ml) and maximum in T1 (>24 cfu/ml) in case of coliforms; minimum in T10 (78×105 cfu/ml) and maximum in T1 (258×105 cfu/ml) in case of total viable bacteria and same results (minimum in T10 and maximum in T1) were shown in case of fungal count. E.coli was found in T1, T2, T3 and T4 and some bacteria was found in SS agar (especially Salmonella) in T1, T2, T3 and T5. Among all the treated juice samples T10 was most effective in maintaining the sensory and nutritional quality during storage.Keywords: © 2013 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jsr.v5i2.12181        J. Sci. Res. 5 (2), 407-414 (2013)


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 4027
Author(s):  
Cristiana Maia de Oliveira ◽  
Leandro Martins Ferreira ◽  
Margarida Gorete Ferreira do Carmo ◽  
Regina Celi Cavestre Coneglian

Fruit maturity stage has direct influence on the post-harvest life and consumer quality. Therefore, the understanding of the maturation process and its quality characteristics for storage are key factors for commercialization. In face of the foregoing, this study aimed to determine shelf life and changes in physical and chemical indexes of cherry tomatoes (Perinha Água Branca (PAB) and Mascot), assessing fruit harvested at four maturity stages and stored at ambient and controlled temperatures. For this, it was used fruit at turning, pink, red and ripe maturity stages, submitted to ambient (25 ± 2 °C) and controlled (12 °C and 90% RH) temperature, and assessed over time the indexes of fresh mass loss, titratable acidity, pH, soluble solids and ascorbic acid. The experimental design was completely randomized design in a factorial scheme of 2×4×7 for ambient temperature and 2×4×8 for controlled temperature. At ambient temperature, a longevity of up to 20 days was observed for PAB and Mascot fruit harvested at turning and pink maturity stages. When harvested at red and ripe stages, the longevity was of 15 days for PAB fruit and of 15 and 11 days, respectively, for Mascot fruit. At controlled temperature, PAB fruit showed longevity of 24 days when harvested at turning and pink stages and of 20 and 7 days, respectively, when harvested at red and ripe stages. A longevity of up to 27 days was observed for Mascot fruit harvested at turning stage and of 24 days for the other stages. The fruit harvested at turning and pink maturity stages, associated with storage under controlled conditions, presented higher longevity and maintenance of physical and chemical indexes of quality.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document