Fruit quality response to varying leaf area to fruit ratio on girdled branches and whole trees of ‘Bellise’ sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.)

This study investigated the relationships between leaf area to fruit ratio (LA:F) and fresh mass (FM), diameter (D), soluble solids content (SSC), pigmentation, anthocyanin content, and mode of elasticity (E) on girdled branches and whole trees of the early maturing sweet cherry cultivar ‘Bellise’/GiSelA 5. The number of leaves per fruit had an influence on the absolute growth rate in D (AGR_D) of the fruit.
At one and two leaves per fruit, AGR_D was reduced in comparison to fruit grown at four leaves per fruit.
On the girdled branches positive correlations were found between leaf area to fruit ratio (LA:F) and FM, D, SSC and anthocyanin content, whereas a negative correlation was found between LA:F and hue angle.
A positive relationship between FM and LA was also found on the whole tree level to a similar extent as on the girdled branches, indicating that the results obtained at the individual branch level can, potentially, be transferred to whole trees.
The leaf area necessary to produce fruit with D=28 mm was 128 cm² on individual branches, while the highest percentage of fruit with D>28 mm on the whole trees was achieved at LA:F of 117 cm². At this LA:F, SSC of the fruit reached 16%. The relationships between number of fruit per leaf area on individual branches and whole trees need to be considered in crop load management in order to achieve precise production targets.

IV International Symposium on Horticulture in Europe – SHE2021

M. Penzel, M. Möhler, M. Pflanz, M. Zude-Sasse

anthocyanin, dry mass, growth rate, modulus of elasticity, SSC

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1327.94