Fruit growth characteristics of pitaya fruit and some factors effecting on fruit qualities
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the fruit growth pattern of pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) fruit planted in the semi-highland zone and effect of flowering period, fruit size and fruit age on fruit qualities. The 20 plants which planted from cuttings and trained on a 1.5 m-high vertical pole were selected. The 120 flowers of 2 periods of flowering had been tagged on mid-July and early August. Sample fruits were harvested randomly with 4 to 7 days interval from 7 to 41 days after blooming. The result showed that the flowering period had a little effect on some fruit qualities. The fruit growth pattern revealed by weighting that the whole fruit was a simple sigmoid curve growth pattern, while a change of pulp width and length seemly expressed by a double growth curve. Theoptimum harvesting period of pitaya planted in highland zone was 33-35 days after bloom. On the over-ripening stage (40 days after bloom), the fruit had the highest in total soluble solid (TSS) and the lowest in titratable acidity (TA), but the pulp expressed more mucilage closely to injury. In comparison of fruit size effect on fruit quality found that the bigger fruit (>600 g) had the highest in both TSS and TA. Moreover, the number of fruit on the branch revealed that the single fruit on branch was lower inTA than the double fruit on branch.
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References
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