Abstract

FRANCO, Germán; CARTAGENA, José R.  and  CORREA, Guillermo. ANALYSIS OF PURPLE PASSION FRUIT (Passiflora edulis Sims) GROWTH UNDER ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE COLOMBIAN LOWER MONTANE RAIN FOREST. rev.udcaactual.divulg.cient. [online]. 2014, vol.17, n.2, pp.391-400. ISSN 0123-4226.

High-Andean fruits are considered important for their domestic consumption and exportation potential. Among them, purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims) is largely accepted in European markets. However, its short shelf life, worsened with the limited knowledge of the species lead to rapid fruit deterioration. An important contribution to the development of this crop is fruit growth mathematical modeling, which allows estimating harvest related issues, in order to define applicable agronomic management protocols. Periodic destructive sampling was employed to investigate fruits of known age corresponding to ten purple passion fruit materials from the Colombian departments of Antioquia, Putumayo and Nariño. The fruits were analyzed for dry weight, polar and equatorial diameters, thermal time (TT) and relative growth rate (RGR). In order to assess fruit growth, some nonlinear models were fitted using time after flowering (DAF) to predict dry weight and polar and equatorial diameters. For each response, the best fitting model was chosen according to homogeneous distribution of residuals, higher coefficient of determination for prediction (R² _prediction), and smaller Mean Square Error and PRESS values. RGR was used to identify and describe fruit growth stages, while the TT was employed as a complementary measure to compare fruit ripening stages. The studied parameters were satisfactorily explained by Weber's Monomolecular model. Based on the models adjusted for fruit growth, it can be concluded that harvest must be carried out between days 85 - 90 after full bloom.

Keywords : Growth dynamics; fruit development; tropical fruits; Passifloraceae.

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