Bright red passion fruit - evaluation of colorimetry and physicochemical quality for the fresh fruit market

• Published in: Scientia horticulturae 2023-07, Vol.317, p.112016, Article 112016
• Main Authors: Jesus, Onildo Nunes de, Lima, Lucas Kennedy Silva, Santos, Idalia Souza dos, Santos, Mateus Araújo dos, Rosa, Raul Castro Carriello
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Passiflora edulis Sims; Purple passion fruit; Sweetness, Export
• ISSN: 0304-4238
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112016

•The species Passiflora edulis Sims, in addition to fruits with a yellow color, also produces fruits with a color ranging from reddish to purple.•The evaluation of half-sib progenies of P. edulis with reddish to purple peel allowed the identification of 26 genotypes with pulp with a sweet taste.•The 26 selected genotypes will be intercrossed and evaluated for the generation of cultivars (P. edulis) with purple peel for the internal and external market of passion fruit for fresh consumption. The species Passiflora edulis Sims has varieties that produce fruits with colors that vary yellow to reddish purple and dark purple, all of which are well adapted to Brazil's varied climatic conditions. In the foreign market, demand is greatest for the variety Passiflora edulis f. edulis Sims, or pure purple passion fruit (gulupa), whose adaptation is more restricted to cool and upland regions. The Embrapa Cassava and Fruits research unit (Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura) generated a variety of passion fruit derived from P. edulis with reddish-purple fruits, aiming at the identification of genotypes with lower acidity and greater fruit sweetness to supply the fresh fruit market. A half-sib population of 83 P edulis genotypes, segregated for light red to purple and yellow color, was evaluated. For previous selection, the fruits were tested based on sweetness, and 67 genotypes were identified, while the other genotypes constituted the population of origin. Fruit weight, pulp and peel weight, juice yield, soluble solids content (SS), titratable acidity (TA) and SS/TA ratio were evaluated, in addition to colorimetric evaluation CIE-LAB (L*a*b*) . For physical traits, there was no significant difference between the pre-selected and original populations. For the chemical characteristics of the pulp, variation was observed only in titratable acidity (TA), which was 38% lower in the pre-selected population, resulting in a 43% increase in the SS/TA ratio. High correlations were not observed between the colorimetric parameters (L*, a* and b*) of the peel and pulp as well as TA and SS/TA. The heritability (h2) of the evaluated traits was high (66.40% to 86.25%), and 26 genotypes were chosen (ratio from 7.0 to 15.29) with 33.12% lower acidity and 39.84% higher ratio in the next selection cycle. These selected individuals are favorable to development of a passion fruit cultivar with sweeter flavor to supply the domestic and foreign fresh fruit markets.