Articles
Effect of permanent shade netting on fruit colour of ‘Mauritius’ litchi in South Africa
Article number
1447_14
Pages
117 – 124
Language
English
Abstract
Hotter and drier weather conditions during the fruit development period have contributed to weaker fruit colour development in ‘Mauritius’ litchi in South Africa in recent years.
Shade netting was previously shown to improve fruit colour in a range of tree crops.
However, in litchi, shade netting has mainly been used to reduce crop losses due to extreme weather conditions and pests.
In this study, we investigated the effect of permanent shade netting (20%; white) on ‘Mauritius’ fruit colour in comparison with open-field conditions over two seasons.
Permanent shade netting created milder growing conditions with fewer temperature and solar radiation extremes.
Fruit grown under shade netting showed significantly higher a* (green-red axis colour), and significantly lower L* (lightness), b* (blue-yellow axis colour) and h° (hue angle) values compared with fruit grown under open-field conditions.
The Delta E values for colour differences between fruit grown under shade and open-field conditions were 8.98 and 8.18 for the first and second season, respectively, indicating ‘very obvious differences’. However, fruit size and maturity (TSS/TA ratio) were not affected by shade netting.
The results suggest that shade netting is a useful tool to modify the microclimate in the orchard when developing litchi fruit are exposed to harsh South African weather conditions, thereby markedly improving fruit colour in ‘Mauritius’ litchi.
Shade netting was previously shown to improve fruit colour in a range of tree crops.
However, in litchi, shade netting has mainly been used to reduce crop losses due to extreme weather conditions and pests.
In this study, we investigated the effect of permanent shade netting (20%; white) on ‘Mauritius’ fruit colour in comparison with open-field conditions over two seasons.
Permanent shade netting created milder growing conditions with fewer temperature and solar radiation extremes.
Fruit grown under shade netting showed significantly higher a* (green-red axis colour), and significantly lower L* (lightness), b* (blue-yellow axis colour) and h° (hue angle) values compared with fruit grown under open-field conditions.
The Delta E values for colour differences between fruit grown under shade and open-field conditions were 8.98 and 8.18 for the first and second season, respectively, indicating ‘very obvious differences’. However, fruit size and maturity (TSS/TA ratio) were not affected by shade netting.
The results suggest that shade netting is a useful tool to modify the microclimate in the orchard when developing litchi fruit are exposed to harsh South African weather conditions, thereby markedly improving fruit colour in ‘Mauritius’ litchi.
Authors
R.B. Cronje, I.M. Ratlapane, M. Booyse
Keywords
air temperature, a* value, Chroma, Delta E, hue value, solar radiation
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