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Colour and water content detection of sweet cherry by portable spectrometer
23-26.Views:452Based on the most recent data, the average amount of sweet cherry produced in Hungary is around 10-12 thousand tons. Therefore fast and effective method is important for sweet cherry fruit quality analyses. The aim of the study was to examine the applicability of reflectance measurements for sweet cherry fruit quality analyses. In our experiment five cherry species (Vera, Cristalina, Germersdorfi, Noir de Mechet, Canada Giant) were examined in order to measure the spectral differences between species. Further more, spectral alteration was examined between different health and maturity status of the fruits in the case of a specified, the Germesdorfi species. The four new indices are appropriate tools for cherry quality analysis. Thus reflectance measurements can also support more precise and automated fruit selections. The methods for the differentiation of species could also be viable at a concerned habitat; however, the climate, habitat and soil conditions strongly affect the yield quality. Concerning the fast determination of water content, WBI could be a reliable method for the assessment
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The effect of different berries in human nutrition
147-151.Views:225The aims of this study were on the one hand to compare of examined compounds according to their importance in nutrition and human-health, and on the other hand we made preexperiments to investigate the relationships among antioxidant capacity and the endogenous substances which contribute the antioxidant status of the plants. The following species were involved in the experiment: raspberry, blackberry, black currant, elderberry and sour cherry. These fruits have potent health-promoting antioxidant power. Glucose, fructose, total phenol, formaldehyde and anthocyanin contents were determined in addition to ferric reducing ability. Our results reflected considerable differences in the measured parameters of the analysed species. In blackberries and elderberries the high antioxidant capacity is coupled with low carbohydrate content. Besides the formerly proven correlations between total phenol content, anthocyanin concentration and antioxidant capacity, these parameters also correlated with the measured formaldehyde concentrations, hereby we can follow the methylation /demethylation status of the plant.
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Hazardous element content and consumption risk of 9 apricot cultivars
61-65.Views:309The heavy metals pollution is one of the problems that arise due to the increased uses of fertilizers and other chemicals to meet the higher demands of food production for human consumption. In order to assess possible health risk of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) consumption, levels of Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury and Lead were determined in fresh and dried samples of "Jumbo cot", "Tom cot", "Gold strike", "Gold bar", "Bergeron", "Bergarouge", "Sweet cot", "Yellow cot" and "Zebra" apricot cultivars. Wet digestion of samples with concentrate HNO3 – H2O2 digester mixture and inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectroscopy was used. Highest content of As, Cd, Hg and Pb among all cultivars, were 0.5, 0.04, 1.5 and 0.5mg/kg of dried apricot samples. Fresh fruit samples also contain 0.2, 0.016, 0.6 and 0.2 mg/kg of Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury and Lead respectively. Daily intake of metals, hazard quotient and health risk index to reveal health risk possibility of dried and fresh fruits consumption were calculate and compared.
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Effect of boron fertilisation on the flavour of carrots - Applicability of organoleptic analyses to carrots
51-54.Views:121Foliar boron fertilisation has had positive influence only on carotene content. Results were evaluated with chemical analyses and sensory tests. It has been observed that sensory tests are able to detect bitter flavour and also to measure its interaction with sweet flavour. Sensory tests for evaluation are generally used in the EU, also in the case of fruits and vegetables. With the aid of students and staff having received training and acquired practice, our University has the possibility to complete chemical analyses in such a way that satisfies modern demands, as well as facilitating the sale of the products on foreign markets.
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Healthcare values and potential uses of the new Hungarian apple varieties on the basis on fruit analysis
25-28.Views:208Biological active compounds and valuable characteristics of some apple varieties and candidates were measured in our trials. Fruits of ’Rosmerta’, ’Hesztia’, ’Cordelia’ and ’Artemisz’ are recommended to enrich the Hungarian assortments for fresh consumption and choice of new tastes. Based on examined parameters it can be assumed that novel Hungarian resistant varieties are suitable for juice and fruit concentrate production, and due to high pectin content of their remaining pomace these varieties can be raw material of pectin production as well as they are also suitable for jam production mixed with other fruit species. Furthermore, functional food industrial product having high quality can be produced by using novel resistant varieties because of their high pectin and polyphenol content. Beside of their high market value their suitability for growing among orchard conditions is confi rmed by lower costs of production because of less plant protection treatments.
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Influence of strawberry and raspberry consumption on the antioxidant status of human body
109-113.Views:169Several parameters influencing the antioxidant capacity were measured in our experiments to compare strawberry and raspberry cultivars. The analysed cultivars were: 'Honeoye', 'Elsanta', 'Onebor (strawberries) and 'Glen Ample', Fertődi zamatos', 'Mailing Expoit' (raspberries). Besides the determination of dry matter content the content of glucose, fructose, total phenol and anthocyanine, the reducing power, H-donating activity and total scavenger capacity were measured as well as the compound of mineral nutrients. Among the species and the cultivars, differences were obtained. These results call the attention to the features of cultivars and to count on the antioxidant-capacity describing values in case of consuming these fruits. In early spring and summer the consumption of strawberry and raspberry has a beneficial contribution to the antioxidant status of our body. In this respect these are more valuable than the year-long consumable apple. Accordingly, our measurements showed higher amount of sucrose, phenolic compounds and anthocyanine in raspberries, but strawberries contained more glucose and fructose and had stronger H-donating activity. It is worth to keep in mind that e.g. which cultivar contains more of certain compounds because of the strictly determined allowable dose in some diseases (e.g. diabetes).
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Effect of foliar fertilization on leaf mineral composition, sugar and organic acid contents of sweet cherry
45-48.Views:366Influence of a three-year-long foliar fertilization on mineral composition of leaf, content of sugars (glucose, fructose, galactose and sucrose) and organic acids (citric, malic and fumaric acid) of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) fruits was studied. The experiment was conducted during 2005-2007 in West Hungary on mature cv. `Germersdorfi 3' grafted on Prunus mahaleb rootstock, planted in 1999. Trees spaced 7 x 5 m, and growing in a calcareous chernozem soil. Trees were foliar-fertilized with potassium (K) as KNO3 and calcium (Ca) as Ca(NO3)2. Potassium spraying was carried out 3 (K1) and 5 (K2) while calcium was applied at 3 (Ca 1), 5 (Ca2) and 6 (Ca3) weeks after full bloom. Beside fruit analysis, complete soil and leaf analysis were done to study the rate of nutrient uptake and its effects on fruit quality. Contents of nutrients of soil and leaf were determined by atomic absorption and spectrophotometric method, while sugars and organic acids in fruit were determined by HPLC. The applied treatments (except K1) had been increasing leaf K significantly compared to the control till ripening. Most of treatments had no significant effect on Ca content of leaf till ripening. From applied treatments only the boron treatments had significant increasing effect on contents of all examined sugars, compared the control. Furthermore, the effect of calcium spraying on the contents of organic acids was significant.
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Preliminary evaluation of breeding perspectives of Ukrainian sweet cherry cultivars: nutraceutical properties and self-incompatibility
7-11.Views:357Some traditional sweet cherry cultivars of Ukrainian origin may represent perspective material for Hungarian cherry breeding. A total of eight cultivars analysed represent great diversity in several phenotypic traits including fruit ripening time or fruit flesh colour. Considerable differences in the anthocyanin content may result in different antioxidant capacity of fruits. In the present study, we used ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and total phenolic content (TPC) assays to characterize fruits’ nutraceutical properties. These values were compared with the respective values measured for eight commercial cultivars grown in Hungary. The average of FRAP and TPC values was higher for the Ukrainian cherries compared with commercial cultivars suggesting they might be included in functional breeding programs. Since, cherry is a self-incompatible species, the determination of S-genotype is required for both breeding and successful cultivar association in commercial orchards. Complete or partial S-genotypes were determined for 5 and 3 cultivars, respectively.
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Nutritional quality, fruit shape and relationships among exotic and local Capsicum pepper genotypes in Uganda
33-39.Views:356Twenty-one hot pepper genotypes comprising of local (15) and exotic (6) types (C. annuum, C. frutescens and C. chinense) were characterized for selected fruit traits after propagation in a glasshouse at the Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo in Central Uganda using a completely randomized design with three replicates. Ripe fruits were harvested and analyzed; traits evaluated were all significantly different at P<0.05 with variations in quality attributes. The genotype OHA-B305-10 had the highest ascorbic acid content (128.86 mg/100 g) and is recommended for improvement of both local and exotic genotypes targeting the fresh market. Genotypes CAP0408-12 and UG2 WE0511-22, with highest total soluble solids (16.17 ºBrix) and dry matter content (28.59%), respectively should be used in improvements for industrial use or processing to products such as chilli powder or flakes. BRS-M205-04 with highest titratable acidity (1.04%) can be used in enhancing shelf life of genotypes with low titratable acids as well as for the fresh market. In spite of the intraspecific relationships among genotypes, significant differences were observed in their quantitative traits. These genotypes will, therefore, be useful in improving the quality of hot pepper fruit in Uganda.
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Pollen morphology of fruit species
49-57.Views:1206Size and surface morphology of pollen has been studied in 87 twit varieties of 10 fruit species during the period of 1990-1995. No preceding work of that type came to our knowledge, yet.
The samples comprised a wide variety of cultivars included male sterile, self-incompatible, partially self-fertile stone fruits, diploid and hexaploid plums, diploid and triploid apples.
The large number of species and varieties facilitated the comparison of items within and between the respective species.
It was stated that the size, shape and surface morphology of pollen is genetically determined and those data, combined with other variety characters, are suitable for the classification and distinction of varieties.
In assessment of pollen size and shape, their moisture content is crucial. The major diameter of the swollen pollen as well as the length and width of the dry grains are characteristic to species and/or to variety.
The width and shape changes largely with moisture content. Large grains are proper to quince, apricot, peach and almond, medium sizes are found in apple, sweet cherry, sour cherry, European plum, whereas small size is typical to Japanese plums.
The low number of varieties studied does not allow conclusions concerning differences within pears, quinces and almonds as species. In the rest of species, valid differences have been registered as between varieties.
Within species, as apple and plum, the effect of ploidy (i.e. number of chromosomes) was expressed in the size of their pollen. In stone fruit species, the correlation between size. of anthers and size of pollen grains was positive.
Genetic relations between the self-fertile sour cherry varieties of the Pándy type (Debreceni bőtermő, Kántorjánosi, Újfehértói fürtös) as well as the self-incompatible apricots of "giant" fruit size are supposed to be analysed by pollen studies but there did not turn out any decisive conclusion, yet. Other characters also should be considered.
The assembly of pollen characters is decisive in the determination of the variety. The ratio of empty pollen grains, the grain size and the density as well as the size of the pits on the surface are best suited to distinguish pollen lots.
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Nutrient demand of stone fruits
19-23.Views:155Effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilization were investigated on the change of nutrient content, vegetative and generative production of apricot, peach and sour cherry trees, as well as on frost hardiness in long term experiments. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization increased only the concentration of these elements in cherry leaves without effect on growth and yield. Consequent potassium effect was proved on these stone fruit species. Effect on yield appeared following the first higher crop load.
Potassium supply has positive effect on frost hardiness of apricot and sour cherry flowers and peach flower buds.
In peach, the lime content of soil decreased the yield but it could be compensated by potassium dressing to some extent. Favourable nutrient boundary values were determined for soil and foliage.
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Spectral properties of strawberry plants
17-22.Views:265Strawberry varieties were studied in 3 different growing areas of different soil- and ecological properties in Hungary. We have measured the optical spectra of the leaves together with their nutrient content and performed sensory examinations on the deep frozen and melted fruit. The 6 varieties were Elsanta, Marianna, Spadeka, Symphony, Camarosa, and Raurica. The 3 sites were Újfehértó, Pölöske, and Kecskemet. Colour of the leaves was characterised by their lightness and dominant wavelength. Under non-optimal soil and ecological conditions the varieties could be distinguished by their colour — the leaves became lighter and more yellow. The fruits did not produce the genetically determined taste if the plant can not grow in optimal circumstances — we found a negative correlation between the leaf colour in flowering time and the fruit flavour. Leaf colour measurements performed in flowering time make it possible to improve fruit quality by changing the nutrient supply between flowering and ripening.
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Effect of different cultivation methods on strawberry’s antioxidant value
7-10.Views:413The small fruit and strawberry production is economically important in Serbian agriculture. The fresh fruit is sold in domestic markets, but the frozen and processed is mainly sold in foreign markets. The growers find themselves in an ever-expanding selection of the varieties, but besides the nursery and breeder’s descriptions of new cultivars, there are only few exact results for the biological and economical ability of the varieties, which makes easier to choose the proper cultivar. The performance of the varieties in modern strawberry production is worth to investigate by adaptive cultivation methods and production technique. In the case of new strawberry varieties we know neither their needs in production nor their real capability, so they have to be compared with an older, standard control variety (‘Clery’). The breeder’s manuals give only references for the needs of the production technique, of the variety, so it is necessary to have facts, which are based on objective testing results. In this work, a new variety (‘Joly’) is being compared with the control variety. Comparative study of individual varieties are required covering the antioxidant content of the fruits (FRAP) and variability of these amounts in different years of breeding as well as the production techniques under similar circumstances.
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Comparison of apples from organic and integrated farming
15-18.Views:316Prima’, ‘Gala’, ‘Remo’, ‘Topáz’, ‘Idared’, ‘Releika’, ‘Resi’, ‘Rubinola’, ‘Rajka’, ‘Rewena’ and ‘Florina’ apple cultivars, both from organic and integrated farming, from Pallag and Újfehértó, were compared. Average size, weight, soluble solids, titratable acidity, total polyphenols, free radical scavenging capacity expressed as Trolox equivalent (TEAC), copper and zinc were determined at harvest and after cool storage. Organic apples were more acidic, while integrated fruits had mostly higher copper and zinc content. Total polyphenols and TEAC values did not show a significant difference as a function of farming technology. A principal component analysis shows the separation of provenances as well as stored and fresh apples. Results are considered as preliminary.
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Sunburn assessment: A critical appraisal of methods and techniques for characterizing the damage to apple fruit
7-14.Views:396Many methods and techniques have been introduced for measuring alterations in the fruit and in its surrounding environment related to sunburn incidence. The research objectives, fruit materials and the environment to be evaluated dictate the methods to follow. These procedures are either non-destructive and involve techniques that allow us to track the course of sunburn development and related environmental parameters, or destructive and involve the removal of fruit from the tree for field/laboratory measurements. Techniques employed can be used for pre-symptomatic monitoring (before symptoms become visible) or characterizing the symptoms already present. The principles behind the measurements and their usefulness for sunburn assessments are discussed and critically evaluated in this review paper. Descriptions and evaluations of the methods and techniques were made in the following groups: 1. Thermal measurements; 2. Visual assessments; 3. Fruit quality measurements; 4. Measurements of physiological and biochemical alterations; and 5. Practical evaluation of sunburn damage. Thermal measurements involve methods tracking the ambient temperature and fruit surface temperature, and their relation to sunburn formation. Visual assessments cover all measuring techniques (skin color, chlorophyll fluorescence, radiation reflection, electron microscopy) that are able to detect changes on/in the fruit skin related to sunburn formation. Fruit quality measurements are used to point out differences in qualities (soluble solids, firmness, titratable acidity, and water content) between unaffected and sunburned areas of the fruit. The measurements of physiological and biochemical alterations (gas exchange, pigment analysis, enzyme activity, gene expression) give us a better insight to the mechanism of sunburn formation. Practical evaluations involve many procedures that are used by scientists to characterize the susceptibility of cultivars, evaluate protection technology, etc. For this purpose, the following methods are in use: expressing the percentage of the total fruit surface area affected by sunburn or the percentage of the total number of fruits damaged on the tree, or even a scale based on the severity of the symptoms occurred. All assessing methods and techniques described here have their pros and cons as well as their specific applicability, therefore any of these cannot be favored to use exclusively for assessing sunburn incidence. The combination of these techniques will be the best choice to meet a given research objective perfectly.
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Investigation of nitrate accumulation in green pepper
21-25.Views:162Pepper, despite being among the vegetables consumed in largest quantities, does not play an important role as a nitrate source due to the low nitrate accumulation capacity of the cultivars grown in Hungary. Iii the classification of the average nitrate levels or that of the detected hazardous levels it can be sorted into the very 'favorable' class not exceeding 200 and 500 mg/kg respectively. The different elements of the production technology, this way the N supply, do not influence significantly the amount of nitrate accumulated within pepper fruits.
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Introduction of alkanet (Alkanna tinctoria (L.) Tausch), a traditional dye plant into cultivation
41-46.Views:339As a part of the research project to establish natural sources of plant pigments, possibilities of introduction of Alkanna tinctoria (alkanet) into cultivation were studied.
As a result of the germination experiment, the relevance of 21 days' duration of germination procedure was proved. To get high germination rate alkanet fruits are proposed to pretreat by gibberellinic acid (GA3) in the concentration of 400 ppm, overnight before sowing. This method results approximately 50 % germination rate.
The morphological and production properties of alkanet roots are characterized during ontogenesis. Transplanted populations can be characterized by numerous, thick and heavy roots comparing to the spontaneous ones. Thus, seed sowing and transplantation proved to be an effective method for cultivation of the species.
According to our results it can be concluded that in cultivation the optimal harvesting time of roots is at the end of the second vegetation cycle, when the dry root mass of the individuals is about 10-20 g with 3,0-3,5 % accumulation level of active substances.
Considerable seasonal variability have been found influencing not only the root masses, but also the accumulation levels of alkannin derivatives. In a more humid vegetation cycle the root size and mass as well as the content of active substances are much higher.
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High antioxidant - and anthocyanin contents of sour cherry cultivars may benefit the human health: international and Hungarian achievements on phytochemicals
45-47.Views:448Evidence suggests that a diet with high fruit and vegetable consumption may decrease the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and phytochemicals including phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids from fruits and vegetables may play a key role in reducing chronic disease risk. Recent research has proved that sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) is a valuable natural source of some bioactive compounds important in human health preservation. According to the published data, the most important biological effects of sour cherry are connected — directly or indirectly — to their endogenous antioxidant behaviour as well as to their specific pattern of anthocyanin components. In the present work, we measured the total antioxidant capacity of some Hungarian sour cherry varieties in combination with their anthocyanin-, and vitamin-C content. In 2003, twelve clones were selected and grafted from a local sour cherry population called "Bosnyák" sour cherry grown in small home gardens and farms of the village Csengod (Great-Plain Region, South Hungary). Other Hungarian sour cherry varieties, i.e. cv. Újfehértói fürtos, cv. Érdi bőterrnő, cv. Debreceni bőterrnő, cv. Csengődi and cv. Kántorjánosi served as a control.
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Commercial varieties of European plums grown in Hungary, a comparison of promising foreign varieties with the widely grown traditional ones
15-22.Views:294Observations and investigations performed in laboratory at several growing sites over a period of many years are summarised on established plum varieties as well as on new promising ones concerning their marketing value. The ripening period of plum varieties was enlarged substantially with the appearance of new varieties of extra late maturity (‘Elena’, ‘Tophit’, ‘Presenta’). The new varieties did not alter the traditional colour, more or less long, violet or blue character of the plum. The most known type, ‘Besztercei szilva’ with its accustomed taste was followed by the new varieties ‘Katinka’, ‘Tegera‘, ‘Hanita’ and ‘Presenta’. The fruit size are largely of the medium category, except the early ripening small ‘Katinka’, whereas the larger and attractive (~60 g) fruits are represented by the late ripening ‘Tophit’ and ‘Empress’. The stone/fruit ratio was lowest in 3% (‘Tophit’) and 6% (‘Besztercei Bt. 2’, ‘Hanita’, ‘Jojo’, ‘ ‘Čačanska rana’) at the other end of the scale. The width and thickness of the fruit fl esh between 28 mm (‘Besztercei szilva’) and 43-44 mm (‘Empress’, ‘Tophit’). The fi rmness of the fruit fl esh excelled in the late maturity varieties ‘Presenta’ and ‘Tophit’ (~4 kg/cm2). Water soluble solids were 12-13 Brix% (‘Čačanska rana’, ‘Katinka’, ‘Silvia’) and 20 Brix% (‘Presenta’, ‘Tophit’), whereas titrated acids are found between 0.2% (‘Besztercei Bt. 2’) and 1.2% (‘Tegera’).
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Flower characters and self-fertilization capacity in relation to the bee pollination at sour cherry cultivars
121-132.Views:210Detailed studies and comparisons were carried out on those flower characters of sour cherry cultivars that may affect bee pollination of flowers. Flower characters of sour cherry are fairly similar to other temperate zone fruit tree species. Their relatively small flowers distinguish the Cigánymeggy-types of cultivars from the flowers of tart cherries cultivars that are conspicuously larger, almost as large as the sweet cherry flowers. The relative position of flower organs was much more variable according to the season than according to the cultivars. So the differences were rather the consequences of seasonal effects than of variety features of sour cherry cultivars. As far as individual cultivars are concerned differences in the nectar production and the sugar concentration are revealed rather between groups of cultivars than between individual cultivars. The pollen production of flowers was extremely changeable in consecutive years. Most honeybees collected nectar at sour cherry flowers; pure pollen gatherers and mixed behaviour bees were half as frequent but differences among the behaviour of honeybees according to cultivars cannot be stated. The fidelity of honeybees to sour cherry is less expressed than to some other fruit tree species. Accordingly, it is very strongly suggested to take the competitive effect other plant species (weeds) flowering in and around the orchard carefully into account when organizing additional bee pollination in sour cherry plantations. Several sour cherry cultivars possess more or less self-fertilization capacity but this is greatly changeable according to the season. It has been proved that self-sterile sour cherry cultivars are sensitive even on the partial restriction of the effective time of bee pollination and it is to be stressed too that even in the case of partly self-fruitful cultivars bee pollination is also vital in yield formation because medium or strong restriction of the effective bee pollination period is of a definite negative effect on their fruit set and yield. In years with unfavourable weather the yield can dramatically be reduced sometimes down to nil. However, very high fruit set is also unfavourable because a negative correlation was detected between the final set and the mean mass of fruits.
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Effect of N, P, K and Mg fertilizers on some vegetative and generative parameters of a sweet cherry cultivar
27-30.Views:458This two-year-study was aimed to provide results on the effect of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium fertilizer treatments (control, NP, NPK, NPKMg) on vegetative and generative features of the sweet cherry cultivar ‘Carmen’. Examinations were performed in an orchard planted in 2012 on Prunus mahaleb rootstock with spacing of 5 x 2.5 m. All treatments improved the vegetative features of the sweet cherry trees in both years of 2016 and 2017. Fertilizer treated trees increased trunk cross section area (TCSA) with 51.3-63.1%, while control trees showed 48.3% trunk growth increase. Yields of control trees were lower in both years (5.9-7.2 kg/tree), than that of the fertilized trees (7.8-11.3 kg/tree). Treatments also increased the phosphorus (16-22%), magnesium (12-20%) and potassium content (3.5-18%) of the fruits compared to control treatments.
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Microclimatic studies on different aged apple plantations
7-11.Views:252The purpose of measuring parallel canopy and out of canopy microclimates was to find out in what extent climatic parameters measured in different aged canopis differ from each other and from the values characteristic to out-of-canopi areas. The importance of phytoclimatic researches seems to lie in the fact that if the reactions of fruit trees towards meteorological elements are continuously followed, we have the possibility to provide growers with information. These pieces of information are like defining the optimum time of phitotechnical interventions (summer pruning, sorting sprouts, thinning fruits, etc.), the necessity of applying mulching, defining the method and time of irrigation and applying plant protection activities. By means of phytoclimatic researches, it is possible to react to unfavourable meteorological impacts within a certain extent. It is also possible to successfully reduce the risks of late spring and early autumn frost damage, as well as the risks, content and measure of experienced heat and water stress conditions by finding out about the physical characteristics of the canopis' internal area.