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Seven lines and four testers were crossed in line x tester mating design to evolve twenty-eight hybrids. These hybrids were studied along with their eleven parents for gene action and combining ability for fifteen characters. Among the hybrids, the F1 hybrids of L4 x T3 (LCA 625 × G-4) followed by L7 x T4 (Pant C-1 × LCA 678), L7 x T2 (Pant C-1 × K1), L5 x T4 (LCA620 × LCA 678) and L7 x T3 (Pant C-1 × G-4) showed maximum fruit yield per plant. Considering the gca effects of the parent L7, L5, L4, T4 and T3 (Pant C-1, LCA 620, LCA 625, LCA 678 and G-4) were the best since they possessed significant and desirable gca effects for more than seven characters. Therefore, it may be concluded that crosses involving L7, L5, L4, T4 and T3 (Pant C-1, LCA 620, LCA 625, LCA 678 and G-4) would result in the identification of superior segregants with favourable genes for yield and its component traits. Based on sca effects, the hybrid L4 x T3 (LCA 625 × G-4) and L7 x T4 (Pant C-1 × LCA 678) was the best hybrid, since it had a desirable performance for ten characters viz., days to fifty percent flowering, plant spread, fruit length, fruit width, fruit pedicel length, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, 1000 seed weight, ascorbic acid content, capsaicin content and fruit yield per plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit yield and quality of greenhouse tomatoes are strongly influenced by light conditions and nitrogen (N) availability, however, the interaction between these factors is still unclear. We evaluated the effects on cherry tomatoes of two tunnel plastic covers with different optical properties and three N doses, also in combination with a biostimulant treatment. We compared a diffuse light film (Film1) and a conventional clear film (Film2), and three N levels, corresponding to 50% (N50), 75% (N75) and 100% (N100) of the optimal dose, with and without a microbial plus a protein hydrolysed biostimulant, compared to a non-treated control. The three experimental treatments significantly interacted on several yield and quality parameters. In control plants (untreated with biostimulants), the early yield was higher at reduced N doses compared to N100, with greater increments under the diffusive Film1 compared to the clear Film2 (+57.7% and +37.0% vs. +31.7% and +16.0%, in N50 and N75 respectively). Film1 boosted the total fruit production at all the N rates and with or without biostimulants, compared to Film2, with stronger effects under sub-optimal N (+29.4% in N50, +21.2% in N75, and +7.8% in N100, in plants untreated with biostimulant). Total yield decreased with decreasing N levels, while it always increased with the application of biostimulants, which counterbalanced the detrimental effects of N shortage. Quality traits were mainly affected by the cover film and the biostimulant treatment. The diffusive film increased the content of carotenoids, lycopene and total phenols compared to the clear one, and the biostimulants increased texture, soluble solids, phenols and ascorbic acid compared to the untreated control. It is worth noting that in plants fertilized at 75% of the reference N dose, the biostimulants determined higher yield than the N100 untreated control, under both the covers (+48% in Film1 and +20% in Film2). In conclusion, the diffusive film improved the fruit yield and quality of greenhouse tomatoes in the spring–summer period, presumably avoiding plant stress due to high-intensity direct light. Reduced N rates limited the plant productivity, however, the biostimulant application was effective in compensating for the detrimental effects of sub-optimal supply of N synthetic fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persimmon fruit has a high nutritional value and significantly varies between pollination-constant astringent (PCA) and pollination-constant non-astringent (PCNA) persimmons. The astringency type affects sugar, flavonoids, and tannin accumulation and is well known in persimmon fruit. However, the impact of the fruit astringency type on ascorbic acid (AsA) accumulation is limited. In this study, typical PCA varieties ('Huojing' and 'Zhongshi5') and PCNA varieties ('Yohou' and 'Jiro') of persimmon fruit were sampled at four developing stages (S1–S4) to provide valuable information on AsA content variation in PCA and PCNA persimmon. Persimmon fruit is rich in ascorbic acid; the AsA content of the four varieties 'Zhongshi5', 'Huojing', 'Jiro', and 'Youhou' mature fruit reached 104.49, 48.69, 69.69, and 47.48 mg/100 g. Fruit of the same astringency type persimmon showed a similar AsA accumulation pattern. AsA content was significantly higher in PCA than PCNA fruit at S1–S3. The initial KEGG analysis of metabolites showed that galactose metabolism is the major biosynthetic pathway of AsA in persimmon fruit. There were significant differences in galactose pathway-related metabolite content in developing PCA and PCNA fruit, such as Lactose, D-Tagatose, and D-Sorbitol content in PCA being higher than that of PCNA. Combined gene expression and WGCNA analyses showed that the expression of the GME (evm.TU.contig4144.37) gene was higher in PCA-type than in PCNA-type fruit in S1–S3 and exhibited the highest correlation with AsA content (r = 690 **, p < 0.01). Four hub genes, including the DNA methylation gene, methyltransferase gene, F-box, and Actin-like Protein, were identified as potential regulators of the GME gene. These results provide basic information on how astringency types affect AsA accumulation and will provide valuable information for further investigation on AsA content variation in persimmon fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pepper is one of the most vitamin C enriched vegetables worldwide. Although applying nitrogen (N) fertilizer is an important practice for high fruit yield in pepper production, it is still unclear how N application regulates pepper fruit vitamin C anabolism at different maturity stage. To further the understanding, we combined physiological and metabolomic analysis to investigate the fruit vitamin C content (including ascorbic acid (AsA) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHA)), related enzyme activity and non-targeted metabolites of field-grown chili pepper produced under different N levels at mature green and red stages. The results showed that increasing N application reduced AsA content in pepper fruit at both maturity stages, but highly elevated DHA content only at mature green stage. Regardless of N application level, AsA content displayed an increasing trend while DHA content was reduced as pepper fruit maturity advanced, resulting in a higher content of total vitamin C at the mature green stage. The L-galactose pathway, D-galacturonate pathway, and myo-inositol pathway were identified for AsA biosynthesis. The involved precursor metabolites were mainly negatively regulated by increasing N application, and their accumulation increased when pepper fruit developed from green to red stage. Meanwhile, the activities of key enzymes and metabolites in relation to degradation and recycling processes of AsA and DHA were increased or did not change with increasing N application, and they were differently influenced as fruit maturing. As a result, the recommended N application level (250 kg N ha-1) could maintain relatively high total vitamin C content in pepper fruits without yield loss at both maturity stages. These findings highlight the importance of optimizing N application level to maximize vitamin C content in pepper fruits, and provide a better understanding of the maturity stage-dependent N regulation on vitamin C anabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present experiment was performed at fruit orchard of Horticultural Research Station, Bahawalpur during 2016-18 to explore optimum concentration of urea causing deblossoming and defoliation in summer crop, subsequently improving fruit quality and production in winter crop of guava cv. ‘Surahi’. Five treatment combinations containing different concentrations of urea applications viz 0% (T0 =control), 09% (T1 ), 12% (T2 ), 15% (T3 ) and 18% (T4 ) which were applied twice fortnightly when summer crop attained 50% blooming. Percentages of flower drop, fruit drop, fruit set and defoliation as well as fruit weight, fruit length & diameter, total soluble solids, acidity, total sugars, ascorbic acid and yield per plant were recorded. Significant differences among treatment combinations were recorded in effect on each parameter during both years of study. Results from combined analysis of two-years data indicated that 15% urea spray on summer crop produced the highest yield (64.83 kg/plant), heavier fruit (203 g), bigger fruit size (length 9.3 cm & diameter 7.5cm), higher TSS (15o Brix), total sugars (7.1%) with minimum acidity (0.65%) in winter crop because of higher flower (75.5%) and fruit drop (41.5%), defoliation (25.8%) and less fruit set (17.7%) compared to non-target summer crop. High concentration of urea (18%) ranked 2nd with respect to fruit and yield parameters of winter crop but it led in flower dropping (80%), fruit dropping (46.8%), defoliation of summer crop (33%) and ascorbic acid (164.4 mg/100g pulp). Urea spray @ 15% proved the best for deblossomig and defoliation of summer crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigates the effects of humic acid concentration, its application methods as well as nitrogen ratios on the morphological, yield and biochemical characteristics of strawberry cv. Paros, during 2014–2015 in Ardabil Province, Iran. The study has been conducted within the framework of a double split plot randomized complete block design with three replications and density of 10 plants per replications. Different nitrogen levels (50, 100 and 150 kg ha−1) were examined in the main plots while application methods of humic acid (foliar and soil) and its different concentrations (0, 2, 4 and 6 kg ha−1) were considered in the subplots and sub-sub plots, respectively. The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the interaction effects of different concentrations of nitrogen, humic acid and its application methods are significant on most of the measured variables at 5% probability level. Mean comparisons showed that the highest values for the leaf area, fruit yield, chlorophyll a, carotenoids and titratable acidity are associated with the combined treatments of nitrogen and humic acid with concentrations of 100 kg ha−1 and 4 kg ha−1, respectively. In three-way interactions, the highest shoot and root biomass and total chlorophyll content were obtained from the application of 100 kg ha−1nitrogen and 4 kg ha−1 foliar humic acid, while the highest nitrogen and protein contents of leaf and root were achieved upon applying 2 kg ha−1 foliar humic acid and 150 kg ha−1 nitrogen. Moreover, the highest amounts of ascorbic acid and total soluble solids were found at a concentration level of 100 kg ha−1 nitrogen along with applying 2 and 6 kg ha−1 foliar and soil humic acids, respectively. Finally, the best results of most of the studied traits were observed at 100 kg ha−1 nitrogen and 4 kg ha−1 foliar humic acid application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted during two successive seasons of 2018 and 2019 on Balady Mandarin trees, 20 years old budded on sour orange rootstock and planted at 5×5m apart. Grown at the productive farm located at Shandawel Island, Sohag governorate. This experiment aimed to study the effect of active dry yeast, ascorbic acid, vitamin B complex and their combination on yield components, alternate bearing and fruit quality of Balady Mandarin cultivar grown under Sohage conditions. The obtained results showed that using of active dry yeast at 10g/l (as soil application) as single application or in combination with ascorbic acid and vitamin B complex at 1g/l from each (foliar application) caused a pronounced increasing of fruit numbers, fruit weight (g) and yield (kg). The later also improved fruit quality in terms of TSS%, TSS/acid ratio as well as total sugars, vitamin C content and reducing total acidity of Balady Mandarin fruits. According to results of the current study it could be concluded that using active dry yeast at 10g/l (as soil application) as single treatment or in combination with spraying ascorbic acid (1g/l) plus vitamin B complex (1g/l) three times on the first week of May, July and September led to improve both yield and fruit quality of Balady Mandarin Cultivar under Sohage environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the importance of foliar application of macro and micro nutrients to increase the yield and quality of guava under high density planting system, an experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design consisting of nine treatment combinations with three replications. [(Control - Fertigation alone), (NPK (19:19:19)), (NPK + Zn), (NPK + Ca), (NPK + B), (NPK + Zn + Ca), (NPK + Zn + B), (NPK + Ca + B), (NPK + Zn + Ca + B). Among the treatments, fruit weight (225.22 g), fruit volume (215.35 ml), number of fruits per plant (80.35), fruit yield per plant(17.67 kg plant-1), TSS(10.60 0Brix), titratable acidity (0.196 %) and pectin content (1.31 %) was found to be significantly higher with the foliar application of NPK @ 1% + Zn @ 0.5 % + B @ 0.4%. The foliar spray of NPK @ 1% + Ca@ 0.2% + B@ 0.4% significantly increased the fruit diameter (7.85 cm), and ascorbic acid content (159.84 mg 100g-1). Thus, foliar spray of NPK, zinc and boron maintained more number of fruits per plant and improved the fruit set leading to an 18% increase in yield. Whereas, the addition of calcium to the plants increased the ascorbic acid content of the fruit and pectin that enhanced the shelf life of the fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was carried out during the seasons of 2014 and 2015 at the Research and Agricultural Experimental Station, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, to investigate the effects of foliar application of CaCl2 at 1 or 2%, Ca(NO3)2 at 0.5 or 1% and ascorbic acid at 50 or 100 ppm on yield and fruit quality of Ziziphus jujuba trees. All treatments were repeated twice (December 15 and January 15) before harvest date in both seasons. Treatments significantly improved yield and fruit physical characteristics (fruit weight, flesh weight, fruit volume, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit firmness) in comparison to untreated control in both seasons. Fruit chemical characteristics (TSS, Acidity, total sugar contents, ascorbic acid, and total chlorophyll) were mostly improved by most tested treatments in both seasons over the control (water only). It can be concluded that foliar application with Ca(NO3)2 at 1% would be the best treatment to obtain highest yield, fruit physical and chemical composition of Z. jujuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, synthetic ascorbic acid (100 mg/kg) or different doses of rosehip fruit (5, 10 and 15 g/kg) as a source of ascorbic acid were added to the rations of Nick Brown laying hens grown under cold stress and the effects of these supplements on laying performance, egg quality, egg yolk color values, live weight changes, rectal temperature, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio were investigated. 120 Nick Brown laying hens at the ages of 24 weeks were used and feed and water were provided ad libitum. During the 12 weeks of trial, a photoperiod of 16 hours of light and 8 hours of dark was applied, and the temperature was set at 24°C for 12 hours, 14°C for 12 hours to induce cold stress. It was observed that egg weight, egg white weight and shell weight, as well as feed conversion ratio, decreased in all supplementation groups in comparison to the control group, while yolk weight, Roch color scale and feed conversation ratio increased in all supplementation groups in comparison to the control group, and the egg yolk index, egg white index and Haugh unit values were found to be lower in the group that received 10 g/kg of rosehip fruits supplement than in the other groups. It were determined that in terms of laying performance, weekly number of eggs, egg yield, total egg weight and values of egg yolk and redness were numerically higher in the group that was given 15 g/kg of rosehip fruits in comparison to all other groups, but the supplements did not change the rectal temperature values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was designed to assess the effect of organic phosphorus on the growth, yield and post-harvest fruit traits of tomato. Plants were fertilized with five levels of fertilizers (containing 20% organic mineralized P2O5, 30% decomposed organic matter and 2% organic nitrogen) with the rate of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 kg ha-1 accompanied with a control. Results showed that Maximum survival percentage, No. of picking/plot, fruit weight, plant height, number of branches, maximum yield was also obtained from the plots treated with 60 kg ha-1 fertilizer. Plots with 60kg ha-1 of organic phosphorus required less days to produce 50% flowering and 50% fruit setting. Fruit maturity duration and No. of defective fruits were also minimum in the plots where fertilizer were applied with the rate of 60 kg ha-1. Results of post-harvest analysis of fruits also revealed that different levels of organic phosphorus (organic phosphorus as a source) have no significant effect on fruit firmness but with the increase in storage time firmness decreases significantly. Total soluble solids were also reduced with the increased level of fertilizer, with the increase in storage time increased the total soluble solids in fruit. Ascorbic acid was found with higher concentrations in high levels of fertilizer which was reduced significantly with the passage of storage time. Fruit juice had maximum pH value in the control treatment which was significantly reduced with the increase of fertilizer level. However, pH started to increase when fruit was stored for more than 12 days. From the results it can be concluded that fertilization with 60 kg ha- 1, tomato plant can response better during pre-harvest and post-harvest period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study involving 5 cherry cultivars was conducted in 2015-2016. The varieties 'Techlovan', 'Summit', 'Sylvia', 'Kordia' and 'Regina' were planted in 2010 in the Experimental Orchard of the Department of Pomology in Warsaw-Wilanów on GiSelA5 rootstock. The aim of the study was to evaluate the production value and dessert fruit quality as well as health proprieties of the tested cultivars' fruits and select the most valuable ones. It was shown that the varieties differed in fruit set and yielding as well as fruit quality (i.e. fruit size, firmness, soluble solid content, acidity) and health benefits (i.e. polyphenol, anthocyanin, and ascorbic acid content). 'Techlovan' trees had the lowest yield, but their fruits were of high quality. 'Kordia' and 'Regina' also provided high quality fruit with high total polyphenol content. In contrast, the 'Sylvia' cultivar had a high yield, but the fruit obtained from it was of poor quality. All tested cultivars had similar vitamin C content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Solanum pennellii Introgression Line (IL) population can be exploited to identify favorable alleles that can improve yield and fruit quality traits in commercial tomato varieties. Over the past few years, we have selected ILs that exhibit increased content of antioxidant compounds in the fruit compared to the cultivar M82, which represents the genetic background in which the different wild regions of the S. pennellii ILs were included. Recently, we have identified seven sub-lines of the IL7-3 accumulating different amounts of antioxidants in the ripe fruit. Since the wild region carried on chromosome 7 induces a low fruit production in IL7-3, the first aim of the present work was to evaluate yield performances of the selected sub-lines in three experimental fields located in the South of Italy. Another aim was to confirm in the same lines the high levels of antioxidants and evaluate other fruit quality traits. On red ripe fruit, the levels of soluble solids content, firmness, and ascorbic acid (AsA) were highly variable among the sub-lines grown in three environmental conditions, evidencing a significant genotype by environment interaction for soluble solids and AsA content. Only one sub-line (coded R182) exhibited a significantly higher firmness, even though no differences were observed for this trait between the parental lines M82 and IL7-3. The same sub-line showed significantly higher AsA content compared to M82, thus resembling IL7-3. Even though IL7-3 always exhibited a significantly lower yield, all the sub-lines showed yield variability over the three trials. Interestingly, the sub-line R182, selected for its better performances in terms of fruit quality, in all the trials showed a production comparable to that of the control line M82. A group of species-specific molecular markers was tested on R182 and on the parental genotypes in order to better define the wild genomic regions carried by the elite line R182. In these regions three candidate genes that could increase the level of AsA in the fruit were identified. In the future, the line R182 could be used as pre-breeding material in order to obtain new varieties improved for nutritional traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted to find out the optimum time of planting and plant density on chilli in polyhouse at Department of Horticulture, CAU, Imphal, during rabi season of 2014-15. Four planting times viz. 30 November, 19 December, 7 January and 26 January were considered as factor A and three spacings, viz. 60 cm Ã-- 60 cm, 60 cm Ã-- 45 cm and 45 cm Ã-- 45 cm were considered as factor B. The experiment was laid out in FRBD (Factorial Randomized Block Design) with 3 replications. The highest number of fruits/plant (67.83), fruit yield/plant [fresh (279.00 g) and dry (71.77g)] and fruit yield/ha [fresh (13.78 t/ha) and dry (3.44 t/ha)] were exhibited when seedling were transplanted on 7 January at a spacing of 45 cm Ã-- 45 cm ((D1S3). Similarly, maximum fruit length (5.77 cm) and diameter (2.57 cm) were shown when planting was done on 26 January at a spacing of 60 cm Ã-- 45 cm (D4S2). Highest individual fruit weight (6.07 g) was achieved when planting was done on 7 January at a spacing of 60 cm Ã-- 60 cm (D3S2). Highest ascorbic acid (149 mg/g) content was obtained from the treatment D3S2 which was planted on done 7 January at a spacing of 60 cm Ã-- 45 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]