Examining the effects of fruit maturity on the relationships between mineral composition and incidence of physiological disorders of apple fruit

Bitter pit and senescent breakdown are physiological disorders that develop during storage of susceptible apple cultivars.
Both disorders are considered related to calcium deficiencies in the fruit and its interactions with other minerals.
However, relationships between disorder incidences and minerals can be variable, and prediction models often have poor R² values.
Clearly other factors are affecting the relationships between these disorders and minerals.
This paper highlights the unappreciated role of maturity given that susceptibility of fruit to bitter pit in often decreasing rapidly, while that of senescent breakdown is increasing, as fruit mature on the tree.
The effects of maturity are further affected by plant growth regulators such as preharvest aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG; ReTain™) and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP; Harvista^®). However, maturity indices are rarely incorporated prediction models.
There is a need to better understand the effect of maturity as part of defining if calcium deficiency is a consequence or an underlying cause of bitter pit development.

X International Symposium on Plant Nutrition of Fruit Crops

C.B. Watkins

Malus × domestica, bitter pit, senescent breakdown, postharvest, storage

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1432.32