Cladode Pruning Affects Yield and Fruit Quality of ‘Roja Lisa’ Cactus Pear [Opuntia ficus-indica....

The initial effect of experimental pruning (EP) or grower's pruning (GP) of cactus pear fruiting cladodes on fruit yield (FY), fruit size distribution (FSD), and fruit quality (FQ) at harvest and after storage was investigated in this study.

Study Manner: For EP and GP, treatments were placed in a completely randomised design with eight or ten duplicates, each with a single plant as a replicate.

From February to August 2006, the experiment was conducted in a drip-irrigated commercial orchard of ‘Roja Lisa' cactus pear [O. ficus-indica (L.) Mill.] plants in Santa Fe, Jerez, Zacatecas, México.

Methodology: The EP looked at two agronomic practises: 1) exposing the centre of each plant while removing unproductive cladodes and those that shade neighbouring cladodes, and 2) concentrating fruiting cladodes in the plant's outer layers. Only some cladodes from the middle section and around the plants were randomly deleted by the GP. For EP and GP, treatments were set up in a completely randomised design with eight or ten repetitions, each having a single plant as a replicate. At harvest and after storage, the response variables were FY, FSD, and FQ. Mean fruit mass (MFM), flesh firmness (FF), total soluble solids concentration, pulp and peel mass, dry matter concentration, and fruit water loss (FWL) were the FQ parameters that were measured throughout storage.

EP enhanced MFM by 42% over GP and produced 15% more marketable fruit (fruit equatorial diameter rose from 5.0 to 7.0 cm), while FY decreased by 39%. After storage, the FF in EP fruit was higher than in GP fruit. Both pruning treatments, both at harvest and after three weeks at room temperature, had identical FQ characteristics. Under both pruning strategies, the FWL was similar. Cactus pear orchards could benefit from more targeted pruning to boost productivity.

Conclusion: Experimental pruning enhanced the size of the fruit and the proportion of commercial fruit, but it lowered overall and commercial fruit yields. EP fruit's flesh firmness remained higher after three weeks of storage at room temperature. Fruit water loss was not influenced by pruning treatments during the storage.

Please see the link :- https://www.journalaprj.com/index.php/APRJ/article/view/30140