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Tag: Fruit Quality

21 Aug 2026
Excessive nitrogen application
By Firstfruits Consulting Website Articles , , ,

Excessive nitrogen application deteriorates integrated citrus fruit quality: A multi-dimensional field study.

Consumer evaluation of citrus fruit quality is moving beyond the traditional sugar–acid ratio toward a broader set of attributes, including texture, flavor and nutritional value. Yet the effects of excessive nitrogen (N) fertilization, a common practice in citrus orchards, on these integrated quality traits remain poorly understood. Here, we combined a long-term field experiment with integrated metabolomic, appearance, texture, flavor and aroma analyses and membership-function-based quality evaluation to reveal how excessive N drives citrus fruit quality deterioration.

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29 Aug 2025
Mulch
By Firstfruits Consulting Website Articles , , , , ,

Effect of Various Mulching Materials on Crop Production and Soil Health in Acid Lime

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of mulching on acid lime during 2014-2015 in Randomized Block Design with 9 treatments and 3 replications. The highest increase on plant height (6.63 %), canopy spread in E-W (9.90 %) and N-S (7.60 %) direction was recorded by polythene mulch with black side facing upward (T8 ). The treatment also had a significant influence on yield and yield attributing parameters where T8 recorded the highest number of fruits per plant (163.0), fruit weight (50.22 g) and fruit yield per plant (7.81 kg) while dry grasses mulch (T2) recorded highest number of fruits per branch (7.50) and fruit retention (44.71 %). With respect to quality parameters of fruit, T8 recorded highest total sugar (0.40 %) and reducing sugar (0.61 %) while significant increase on titratable acidity (6.93 %) and ascorbic acid content (33.46 mg/100g) was observed in T2.

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29 Aug 2025
Fertilization
By Firstfruits Consulting Website Articles , , , , ,

Effects of Fertilization Approaches on Plant Development and Fertilizer Use of Citrus

Fertilization is an important part of citrus crop management. However, limited details are available about the fertilization approach on citrus plant development. A pot experiment for the fertilization approaches and fertigation levels were conducted in this study. Four fertilization approaches, namely, drip fertigation (DF), broadcast fertilization (CK+), hole fertilization (HF) and pour fertilization (PF) were tested. The fertigation level treatment included 100% (DF-337.5), 80% (DF-270), 60% (DF-202.5) and 40% (DF-135) fertilizer supply with DF, and the 100% fertilizer supply with broadcast fertilization were served as control (CK). The results showed that DF not only increased the absorptions of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) but also promoted citrus plant height, stem diameter and dry weight.

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28 Feb 2025
By Firstfruits Consulting Website Articles , , , ,

Influence of deficit irrigation in phase III of fruit growth on fruit quality in ‘lane late’ sweet orange

The aim of this work was to apply one strategy of deficit irrigation (DI) to improve the final fruit quality in 10-year-old ‘Lane late’ sweet orange grafted on Carrizo citrange (Citrus sinensis L. Osb. x Poncirus trifoliata L.). The experiment was carried out over 2 years in an experimental orchard located in Torre Pacheco (Murcia, south-east Spain). The deficit irrigation treatment consisted of the stopping of irrigation in phase III of fruit growth (1st October–28th February). The irrigation cut-off in phase III reduced the midday stem water potential, the plant water status being heavily influenced by rainfall. In both years, the DI treatment did not alter fruit yield although mean fruit weight was slightly reduced.

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25 Nov 2023
Valencia Orange
0 Comments By Firstfruits Consulting Website Articles , , ,

Effects of 3,5,6–trichloro-2-pyridyloxyacetic acid on fruit size and yield of Valencia Oranges

The Valencia orange is a high quality fruit grown in Turkey; however, small fruit size resulting in poor packouts is common in Valencia oranges. Small fruit size is the main factor limiting the marketing of Valencia oranges; thus, synthetic auxins are commonly used to enhance the size of citrus fruit. The objective of the present study was to observe the effects of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyloxyacetic acid (3,5,6-TPA) on fruit size, yield and quality of Valencia oranges from 29-year-old trees budded on sour orange rootstock in Adana, Turkey in 2006. The application of 3,5,6-TPA to the entire tree was from 8th to 11th week after anthesis during June drop (JD). Following 3,5,6-TPA treatments, different combinations were used in the experiment: T1 2 tablets per 100 litres applied just after the end of June drop (JD), T2 2 tablets per 100 litres applied 5-7 days after the end of JD, T3 3 tablets per 100 litres applied 5-7 days after the end of JD, T4 4 tablets per 100 litres applied 5-7 days after the end of JD, T5 3 tablets per 100 litres applied 10-14 days after the end of JD and control trees receiving no 3,5,6-TPA (T0).

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25 May 2023
Shade cloth over citrus
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Mitigation of Heat Stress effects by using Shade Net on Washington Navel Orange Trees grown in Al-Nubaria Region, Egypt

High temperature stress can be detrimental to plants, resulting in reduced fruit yield and increased incidences of fruit disorders. One strategy that farmers can use to maintain or increase their yields in the face of a changing climate is to adjust of farm climate by using shade net on the trees. Such, the use of shade netting on Washington navel orange planted on the sandy soil in Al-Nubaria region, Egypt were studied during two successive seasons, either using a permanent shade throughout all the season or using a moveable shade for certain period from the first of March until the end of June for every season.

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25 Mar 2023
Lemon covered in water
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Mid-long term effects of saline reclaimed water and regulated deficit irrigation on fruit quality of citrus

Non-conventional water sources and water saving techniques can become a valuable implement in semiarid regions, although its long-term effects on the citrus quality are little known. This study evaluated the effects of irrigation with two sources: transfer water (TW) and reclaimed water (RW) combined with two irrigation strategies: full irrigation (FI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) on fruit quality response of mandarins and grapefruits during eight growth seasons. RESULTS: The RW irrigation in mandarin, without water restriction, determined maturity index (MI, SSC·TA-1) lower than in the TW-FI, owing to titratable acidity (TA) increased to a greater degree than soluble solid contents (SSC). Nevertheless, juice quality standards were satisfied. Besides, regardless of the irrigation treatment (FI or RDI), an increasing trend fruit weight was also detected by RW.

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23 Jan 2023
Effect of Manual Fruit Thinning on Yield and Fruit Quality of Clementine Mandarin
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Effect of Manual Fruit Thinning on Yield and Fruit Quality of Clementine Mandarin

The effect of fruit thinning time and thinning rate on flowering, fruit yield and fruit quality of clementine trees (Citrus clementine Hort. ex Tanaka) was investigated during three successive seasons 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. Data recorded only during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons. Thinning applied at three different times on 1st June, 15th June and 30th June. Fruit thinning rate were performed when the fruit diameter reached about 25-30 mm, as hand thinning by removing 0, 25 or 50% of fruit number/shoot per tree.

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