Chill unit models for blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) cultivars ‘Ben Gairn’, ‘Ben Hope’ and ‘Ben Tirran’

Temperate-zone crops require a period of winter chilling to terminate dormancy and ensure adequate bud break the following spring. The exact chilling requirement of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum), a commercially important crop in northern Europe, is relatively unknown. Chill unit models have been successfully utilized to determine the optimum chilling temperature of a range of crops, with one chill unit equating to 1 h exposure to the optimum temperature for chill satisfaction. Two-year-old R. nigrum plants of the cultivars ‘Ben Gairn’, ‘Ben Hope’ and ‘Ben Tirran’ were exposed to temperatures of −10.1 °C, −3.4 °C, 0.1 °C, 1.5 °C, 2.1 °C, 3.4 °C or 8.9 °C (±0.7 °C) for durations of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 weeks and multiple regression analyses used to determine the optimum temperature for chill satisfaction.     

Genetic analysis of pod quality characteristics in vegetable cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.)

A preliminary study of consumer preferences for pod characteristics in vegetable cowpea showed a general preference for greener, longer, fleshier pods that are less seedy. Methods of quantitatively assessing these traits were developed and used in understanding the inheritance of pod quality traits. Combining ability analysis, involving a 6 × 6 diallel mating design, showed that GCA effects were predominant for all pod characteristics. The additive effects were especially high for pod seediness. The dominance effect was, nevertheless, significant for all the characters. The dominance effects were unidirectional in the case of pod wall thickness and were in the direction of the thin walled parent. Dominance was ambidirectional for the other characteristics investigated. The study showed that it is relatively easy to improve these characters by carefully selecting the parents in hybridisation programmes.     

Water spray as a potential thinning agent for date palm flowers (Phoenix dactylifera L.) c.v. ‘Lulu’

Flower or fruit thinning is a critical cultural practice in the date palm production chain that affects fruit development, quality and yield and regulates tree yearly bearing. Development of a save and economic thinning agent for date palm is critically required especially under harsh conditions. During 2004 and 2005 seasons, water spray for 3 min was applied at different times following mechanical pollination on ‘Lulu’ date palm cultivar growing under Al-Ain oasis conditions. The results showed that water spray following pollination generally decreased fruit set percentage to different extent depending of the time of application. In this respect, the most effective treatment was water spray after 4 h following pollination. This treatment significantly decreased fruit set percentage (48%) compared to the control (79%), as the mean of both seasons. However, the other treatments including water spray 1 h before pollination also decreased fruit set percentage but to a lesser extent. Fruit quality characteristics especially fruit and flesh weight, length and diameter were significantly increased by water spray treatments during the 2004 season, in contrast to the 2005 season. Thinning with water significantly decreased both bunch weight and total yield per tree at the Tamr stage especially when applied after 4 h following pollination. To the best of our knowledge, this is a pioneer study investigating the role of water as a potential thinning agent for date palm flowers. The use of water spray as a save and economic thinner needs, however, more research work to justify the time following pollination and duration of application which may vary upon cultivar, method of pollination and district.     

A comparative study of young ‘Thompson Seedless’ grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) under drip and furrow irrigation. II. Growth, water use efficiency and nitrogen partitioning

The response of 3-year-old grapevines (Vitis vinifera L. cultivar ‘Thompson Seedless’) to furrow and drip irrigation was quantified in terms of water status, growth, and water use efficiency (WUE). Drip irrigation was applied daily according to best estimates of vineyard evapotranspiration while furrow irrigations were applied when 50% of the plant available soilwater content had been depleted. Drip and furrow irrigated vines showed similar water status (midday leaf water potential, Ψ₁) and shoot growth patterns throughout the season. Dry weight partitioning was not significantly different between treatments but root mass was somewhat larger for the furrow than drip irrigated vines. Nitrogen concentrations of the fruit and roots were significantly (P < 0.05) less for the drip irrigated vines when compared with the furrow treatment. Similar WUE (kg water kg⁻¹ fresh fruit wt.) were obtained for both treatments indicating that furrow irrigation was as efficient as drip irrigation under the conditions of this study. The data indicate that drip irrigation may increase the potential for control of vine growth by making vines more dependent on irrigation and N fertilization than furrow irrigation.     

Changes in dietary fibre, polygalacturonase, cellulase of navel orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck ‘Cara Cara’) fruits under different storage conditions

The consumption of dietary fibre plays an important role in the prevention of diseases, such as constipation, haemorrhoids. Recently, chemical and physical properties of citrus fibres have been widely studied. In this paper, the polygalacturonase (PG) and cellulase (Cx) gene expression of Cara Cara (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) navel orange fruit stored on tree (ST) was compared with fruit stored in room (SR). The results showed that the mRNA expression levels of PG increased significantly in the fruits of ST, in contrast, the expression levels of Cx increased slightly only in peel of ST. Total pectin (TP) and protopectin of ST fruits pulp were higher than those of SR at every time point. The contents of insoluble dietary fibre (IDF), hemicellulose (HC), cellulose (CEL) and lignin of ST fruits were less than that in SR. However, in fruits from ST, a significant increase of soluble dietary fibre (SDF) and water soluble pectin (WSP) occurred, compared with fruits of SR. Our studies indicated that fruit stored on tree is quite useful for regulating the gene expression and controlling contents of dietary fibre on Cara Cara navel orange.