Introduction. Rose apple fruit ripens on the tree, has a thin peel, softflesh and deteriorates quickly after harvest. Water loss contributes to rapiddeterioration. 1-MCP can extend the postharvest life of non-climacteric fruits eitherdirectly through its effect as an ethylene blocker or through indirect effects.Materials and methods. We investigated the effect of 1-MCP(1 µL·L–1) on shelf life and quality of Rose apple fruits (Syzygiumjambos Alston) cv. Tabtim Chan. Fruit were exposed to 1-MCP for (0, 6, 12, 18or 24) h, then stored at (15 ± 1) °C for 12 days. Subsequently, we investigated the effectof 1-MCP (1 µL·L–1) for 12 h on fruit stored at 5 °C or 10 °C. Weight loss,skin colour, total soluble solids, fruit firmness and percentage of diseased fruit weremeasured during storage. Results. 1-MCP reduced weight loss from about 13% of initialweight to 6%, irrespective of the time of exposure. 1-MCP applied to fruit for 12 h or18 h increased firmness from 3.2 N to 3.8 N and more than halved the percentage of fruitshowing disease. Exposure to 1-MCP for 12 h or 18 h was optimum for reducing disease.1-MCP for 12 h and storage at (10 ± 1) °C doubled shelf life to 24 days compared withfruit stored at the same temperature, but without 1-MCP. Storage at less than 10 °C didnot extend shelf life any further. Conclusion. 1-MCP extended the shelf lifeof Rose apple fruit by reducing weight loss, maintaining flesh firmness and slowingdisease development.

Introduction. Litchi has gained considerable economic importance in Mauritius as it is highly prized on the local and export markets for its size, colour and flavour, although no characterisation work has been performed so far. Materials and methods. In order to optimise litchi germplasm management in Mauritius, we evaluated 34 litchi accessions from three different agroclimatic regions. Phenotypic and morphological characters, and microsatellite markers were studied. Results and discussion. Phenological observations conducted over four consecutive fruiting cycles (2003/2004 to 2006/2007) showed that accessions could be grouped into early- and late-flowering cultivars, which initiated floral panicles from June to July and July to August, respectively. The harvesting season of litchi lasted from mid-November to mid-January with early-maturing cultivars being ready for harvest in the first month of the season. Phenological characters and fruit characterisation showed that the newly-introduced cultivar ‘Yook Ho Pow’ had a high commercial potential. Molecular studies using twelve pairs of SSR primers showed that, despite phenotypic variations among ‘Tai So’ genotypes in different locations (such as percentage of chicken-tongued seeds and leaflet size), the SSR profiles of leaf samples from all the studied ‘Tai So’ accessions were identical, suggesting that phenotypic differences could probably be attributed to environmental conditions rather than to genetic variations. Molecular characterisation revealed different cases of synonymies and homonymies in the genotypes studied.

Introduction. Tamarindus indica est une espèce fruitièred’intérêt économique. Sa domestication au Sahel impose d’évaluer en préalable lavariabilité de ses caractères phénotypiques sur l’ensemble de son aire de répartition.L’objectif de notre étude a été de caractériser différentes provenances de tamarinier àpartir des caractères phénotypiques de leurs graines et plantules. Matériel etméthodes. L’étude menée en pépinière au Burkina Faso a porté sur l’étude desgraines et germinations issues de neuf provenances dont deux d’Afrique de l’Est, deuxd’Afrique de l’Ouest, deux d’Asie et trois de zones insulaires. Nous avons mesuré lalongueur, la largeur, l’épaisseur et le poids de 100 graines de chaque provenance, et lahauteur, le diamètre au collet et le poids sec de la tige, ainsi que la longueur de laracine principale, le nombre de racines secondaires et le poids sec du système racinairede 50 plantules âgées de 3 mois. Nous avons effectué une analyse de variance, puis uneanalyse en composantes principales sur les données centrées réduites de toutes lesvariables, enfin une classification hiérarchisée ascendante basée sur des indices desimilarité. Résultats et discussion. Les différences entre variables ont étéhautement significatives. Lors de l’étude des graines, nous avons obtenu un groupe lié àla provenance d’Inde et d’Afrique de l’Est, un autre lié aux provenances ouest-africaineset un groupe intermédiaire en provenance de Thaïlande. Lors de l’étude des plantules, ilest apparu un groupe avec croissance aérienne forte et racine principale courte, fortementramifiée et un groupe avec croissance aérienne faible, racine principale très longue, maisfaiblement ramifiée. Le dendrogramme obtenu à partir des ressemblances phénotypiques(variables des graines et plantules) montre une structuration par aire géographique.Conclusion. La variabilité phénotypique inter provenance des plantules etdes graines combinée aux corrélations entre variables pourrait permettre de sélectionnerde façon précoce les provenances en fonction des objectifs définis pour la sélection.

Introduction. Pomegranate fruits (Punica granatum L.) are chilling-sensitive crops. Materials and methods. Pomegranate fruits were treated with calcium chloride and spermidine, alone or in combination, by normal dip and vacuum infiltration methods. The treated fruits were stored at 2 °C for 4 months. At the end of the storage period, samples were held for 3 days at 20 °C, then the qualitative constituents were evaluated. Results and discussion. Treated fruits exhibited less weight loss and higher juice content than control fruits. Non-treated fruits developed chilling injury manifested as an increase in K+ leakage and polyphenol oxidase activity. Calcium chloride and spermidine treatments resulted in lower soluble solid content, but some fruits showed higher titratable acidity. All treatments significantly increased ascorbic acid content. The pH of aril juice in treated fruits was lower than that of non-treated fruits, probably due to higher titratable acidity. Total antioxidant activity and total phenolic content increased in treated fruits. In our study, a correlation was observed between total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity. Conclusion. The treatments applied in our experiments maintained overall quality of pomegranate fruits during long-term storage. Postharvest application of calcium and spermidine either alone or in combination could ameliorate adverse effects of low temperature on pomegranate fruit quality during cold storage. Vacuum infiltration was as effective as the normal dip method. However, normal dip is a simpler and faster treatment method.

Introduction. Opuntia ficus-indica fruit quality wasstudied, in the main sites for cactus pear cultivation in Italy, with the ultimate goal ofunderstanding the main sources of variability and increasing crop value. Materialsand methods. A first study was carried out in 2006 on matureOpuntia ficus-indica trees, cvs. Gialla and Rossa, grown inten commercial orchards located in the main sites for their cultivation in Italy. Treeswere managed to produce an out-of-season crop in October, through the removal of thespring flush at bloom time, during the first week of June. Trees had a similar crop[(52 ± 10) kg of fruits·tree–1], and no more than six fruits were left on eachof the fruiting cladodes. At commercial harvest time, indicated by the peel colourbreakage, 75 fruits in each orchard and 750 fruits for each site were picked, analysed andevaluated by a consumer panel. A second experiment was carried out in 2006 on 8-year-oldO. ficus-indica trees, cv. Gialla, grown in acommercial orchard. Within-tree factors, such as fruit position within the canopy, numberof fruits per tree and per cladode, and cladode dry weight were studied. Results anddiscussion. Fruit weight, shape and total soluble solid content significantlychanged with the environmental conditions, i.e., site and altitude, whileflesh percent, pH and total titratable acidity did not. Cultivars had a significantinfluence only on fruit weight and seed content. Fruit weight changed greatly within thetree, while total soluble solid content and flesh percent variability was much reduced.Fruit weight decreased with fruit number per tree and both fruit weight and total solublesolid content decreased with more than six fruits per cladode. Light interception andcladode dry weight were the main sources of fruit dry weight variability and sugarcontent, while cladode surface area was poorly related to fruit quality. The role ofcultivars in determining fruit quality did not change with site and, moreover, the sensoryanalysis was unable to discriminate for cultivar and environment.

Introduction. Superficial scald is one of the most economically seriouspostharvest disorders of apples. The optimal harvest window and 1-MCP treatmentsignificantly diminish the risk of storage scald and retain quality of apples stored in anormal atmosphere. Materials and methods. Fruits from three different harvestdates (23rd and 30th September, and 7th October 2008) were treated with 1-MCP(SmartFreshTM) immediately after harvest, and stored in a normal atmosphere(1 ± 0.5) °C for 180 days followed by a shelf-life period of 7 days at (21 ± 1) °C.Assessments of superficial scald severity, firmness, total soluble solids and titratableacidity were recorded at days 1 and 7 after storage. Organoleptic quality assessments weremade after the shelf-life period. Results. 1-MCP treatment was able tocontrol superficial scald before and after shelf life in fruits from the last two harvesttimes. The highest scald values during shelf life were observed in untreated and1-MCP-treated fruits from the earliest harvest (3.6 and 2.3, respectively). 1-MCP andearly harvest time were determined to have a positive effect on retention of firmness andtitratable acidity during storage. Total soluble solids was not affected by 1-MCPtreatment. Combination of 1-MCP treatment and mid- or late harvest time gave the bestevaluation scores for organoleptic quality. Conclusion. Our results show that1-MCP treatments of late-harvested “Granny Smith” apples could offer satisfactory resultsfor long-term air storage considering both the absence of superficial scald and retentionof fruit quality.