Abstract

ESPITIA-BASALLO, EDWIN; FONTECHA-CAMACHO, DEISY; FISCHER, GERHARD  and  HERRERA-AREVALO, ANIBAL. Stomatal aperture and physicochemical qualities in yellow pitahaya (Hylocereus megalanthus Bauer) fruits in response to day/night rhythm in pre and postharvest. rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2024, vol.18, n.3, e18175.  Epub Apr 05, 2025. ISSN 2011-2173.  https://doi.org/10.17584/rcch.2024v18i3.18175.

Yellow pitahaya is a tropical fruit with economic potential due to its physicochemical, organoleptic and nutritional properties. Given the CAM (crassula acid metabolism) of pitahaya, it is necessary to study the stomatal aperture and acidic behavior in the cladodes and fruit under field and postharvest conditions to understand the physiology, crop management, and postharvest processes of yellow pitahaya, particularly in response to the day/night rhythm. Stomatal behavior was characterized in a 4-year-oldpitahaya crop (Silvania, Colombia), under ambient conditions of 19°C, 12/12 hours day/night, and additionally, total titratable acidity (TTA), total soluble solids (TSS) and maturity ratio (MR) were determined in the fruits. Subsequently, fruits harvested in physiological maturity (90% green, 10% yellow) were stored at 13°C and 80% relative humidity for 16 days, and the effect of three lighting treatments (continuous light, continuous darkness and light/dark change: 12/12 h) was evaluated, determining stomatal behavior, TTA, TSS, MR, firmness, respiration and weight loss. In the field, the cladodes showed a behavior characteristic of CAM plants, but the fruits did not. In storage, fruits subjected to the light/dark cycle showed significant increases in respiration intensity and cumulative weight loss. Postharvest treatments did not show significant differences in firmness, TTA, TSS and fruit maturity ratio. Based on the results, it is indicated that storage under alternating light and dark conditions decreases the postharvest shelf life of pitahaya fruit.

Keywords : dragon fruit; stomatal opening; CAM metabolism; alternating light/dark; respiration; storage.

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