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PHOTOSYNTHETIC PIGMENTS IN YOUNG NON-BEARING PEAR AND QUINCE TREES
-carotene and chlorophylls a and b were the pigments determinated.Analysis were made by high performance liquid chromatography on leaf samples harvested in the last days of April, of May and of June, from the two non-grafted quince trees and from different scion-stock combinations.
The trees were on their third leaf and had not started cropping.
No visual symptoms of chlorosis were observed in any case.
The concentration of photosynthetic pigments was found to be higher in ‘Leonardeta’ than in ‘Agua de Aranjuez’ for the stock-scion combinations studied.
In ‘Leonardeta’, the concentrations were higher when grafted on INRA Quince BA 29 than on Quince A, although the differences were not significant.
In the ‘Agua de Aranjuez’ combinations, differences were even smaller.
Similarly, the pigment concentrations in Quince BA 29 were higher than in Quince A, both when being on their own roots or when grafted on the other quince.
In pear and quince, differences in certain pigment levels and their relationships increased along the growing season, becoming statistically significant in samples harvested at the two latest dates.