Abstract

ALVAREZ-HERRERA, Javier Giovanni; CAMACHO-TORRES, Yenny Maritza  and  MOLANO-DIAZ, Julián Mauricio. Effect of edaphic silicon on the quality and postharvest of ‘Dorado’ peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) fruits. Rev. Cienc. Agr. [online]. 2023, vol.40, n.3, e3218.  Epub Dec 25, 2023. ISSN 0120-0135.  https://doi.org/10.22267/rcia.20234003.218.

In recent years, there has been a surge in the demand for peach fruits in Colombia. However, despite the presence of suitable areas for peach production, neither production nor quality has witnessed a corresponding increase. This is primarily attributed to the inherently short post-harvest life and low firmness of these fruits, rendering them susceptible to manipulation. The nutritional element silicon affects the quality of these fruits when applied in fertilization, increasing firmness values, improving color, and favoring the concentration of metabolites. Therefore, this investigation was conducted aiming to evaluate whether the edaphic application of different doses of silicon would alter the postharvest behavior of 'Dorado' peach, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, fruits in order to maintain quality during storage for a longer time. A completely randomized block design with two blocks (stratum 1 and stratum 2) and five treatments (0, 300, 600, 900, and 120 kg ha-1 of silicon) were evaluated. The fruits from plants fertilized with 1200 kg ha-1 of silicon showed more firmness and total soluble solids (TSS). However, the application of silicon did not affect the other evaluated parameters. Fruits from stratum 1 had higher firmness and TSS than those from stratum 2, while the total carotenoids were not affected by stratum types. The total titratable acidity and luminosity of the fruits decreased during postharvest, while the TSS only showed a slight increase. The respiratory rate presented the highest value ​​at 11 days of storage. The application of silicon is important to preserve some properties of peach fruits for longer.

Keywords : Firmness; carotenoids; respiratory rate; deciduous tree; mass loss..

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