No improvement in fruit quality through chemical flower thinning in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.)

BACKGROUND: Chemical flower thinning with ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) was applied on branches of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars 'Blaze Star', 'Samba', 'Techlovan' and 'Merchant' (all grafted on GiSelA 5) in a two-year field study in 2006 and 2007. Dif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the science of food and agriculture 2009-05, Vol.89 (7), p.1236-1240
Main Authors: Schoedl, Katharina, Denk, Andrea, Hummelbrunner, Stefan, Modl, Peter, Forneck, Astrid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agronomy
ammonium thiosulfate
Biological and medical sciences
cherries
Confectionery products and chocolate industries, honey
crop quality
Cultivars
dimensions
flower thinning
flowers
Food industries
Food science
Fruit and vegetable industries
fruit quality
Fruits
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Prunus avium
soluble solids
Studies
sweet cherry
thinning (plants)
titratable acidity
weight
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Chemical flower thinning with ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) was applied on branches of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars 'Blaze Star', 'Samba', 'Techlovan' and 'Merchant' (all grafted on GiSelA 5) in a two-year field study in 2006 and 2007. Different concentrations of ATS (8.82 and 17.64 g L⁻¹) and different application times were studied. Fruit quality parameters analysed included crop load, fruit size, fruit weight, flesh/stone ratio, content of soluble solids, pH value and content of titratable acids.RESULTS: Crop load was significantly affected (P < 0.01) by application, cultivar and year. Fruit size, fruit weight and content of titratable acids were not improved by any of the application strategies. An influence of cultivar and application on pH value was observed (P < 0.05). Flesh/stone ratio was significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) in 'Blaze Star' only, while content of soluble solids was significantly affected in 'Techlovan' only in 2007.CONCLUSION: No general improvement in quality parameters was achieved by chemical flower thinning in the P. avium cultivars studied over a two-year field experiment.
ISSN:0022-5142
1097-0010
DOI:10.1002/jsfa.3581