Abstract

MARTINEZ BOLANOS, Misael et al. Calcium and gibberellic acid in litchi fruits cracking (Litchi chinensis Soon.) cultivar Mauritius. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2017, vol.8, n.4, pp.837-848. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v8i4.11.

Litchi is grown in México in the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Chiapas and Michoacán. Being the most commercialized cultivars Brewster and Mauritius. One of its main problems is the pericarp cracking in fruits, which diminishes the yield and quality in the Mauritius cultivar production. The research was carried out in 2011-2012; the incidence of cracking was evaluated in four commercial plots of Mauritius cultivar of the following Oaxaca municipalities: Loma Bonita, San Juan Cotzocón, San Juan Yaveo and Santa María Jacatepec. A correlation was made between temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and the incidence of cracked fruits, and the nutritional content of pericarp, pulp and seed of cracked and asymptomatic fruits was evaluated. The incidence of cracked fruits was evaluated in eight treatments: 1) absolute control; 2) gibberellic acid (AG) 25 ppm (BioGip®); 3) AG 50 ppm; 4) AG 100 ppm; 5) AG 200 ppm; 6) Calcium (Ca) 50 mmol L-1 (Poliquel Ca®); 7) Ca 100 mmol L-1; and 8) Ca 200 mmol L-1. The incidence of cracked fruits was observed from the aril development until commercial maturity of the fruit, with maximum incidence of 7.31 - 15.3% at commercial maturity. Asymptomatic fruits showed higher boron content in the pulp than the cracked fruits. The period and intensity of light hours had a high correlation with the incidence of fruit cracking. Calcium applications at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mmol L-1, during and after fruit bunching, reduced the incidence percentage of cracked fruits at harvest time.

Keywords : litchi; nutrition; pericarp; radiation.

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