Articles
FLAT AND FASCIATED KIWIFRUIT
Fasciated (fan-shaped) or flat fruit are not acceptable for export.
Some areas of New Zealand have a high incidence of these aberrant fruit.
The incidence generally varies with season, but some vines consistently produce large quantities of flat fruit.
Fasciated fruit tend to occur towards the base of a shoot, and there is often a gradation towards the shoot tip from fan-shaped to flat to acceptable shaped fruit.
Fruit flatness appears to be determined during the early stages of flower development in the spring.
The cause of these mis-shapen fruit is not yet fully understood.
However, it is likely that the production of fasciated fruit is a genetic characteristic of the ‘Hayward’ cultivar.
Fasciated fruit appear to be formed when one or more of the lateral flower buds fuses with the terminal flower bud in the developing inflorescence.
Such floral abnormalities may be triggered by low temperatures prior to budburst, or alternatively, by competition for resources such as carbohydrates or hormones.
Research is currently aimed at identifying the causes of flower malformation., and at developing methods to minimise the production of flat fruit in existing orchards and in new plantings.