RELATIONSHIP OF PIGMENTS AND SUGARS IN FRUIT PEELS OF ‘RED FUJI’ APPLES AT VARIOUS DEBAGGING TIMES

12-year-old ‘Red Fuji’ apples trees on Malus micromalus Makino rootstocks were used in an experiment where fruits were debagged 145 days after full bloom (DAFB), 152 DAFB, or 159 DAFB. The concentrations of chlorophyll and carotenoids in the bagged fruits underwent the same dynamic changes as those observed in the non-bagged fruits (control), except that the concentrations in the bagged fruits were considerably lower.
In fruits that were debagged 145 DAFB and 152 DAFB, the anthocyanin concentrations increased rapidly and exceeded that in the control fruits within 7 days.
There were no significant differences in the concentrations of sucrose, glucose, or fructose between the fruits that were debagged and the control fruits.
A significant correlation was found between the anthocyanin and sucrose concentrations of fruits that were debagged 145 DAFB (r = 0.87**), 152 DAFB (r = 0.84*), and 159 DAFB (r = 0.96**), as well as those of the control fruits (r = 0.92**). However, significant correlations between the concentrations of anthocyanin and glucose (r = 0.77*) or fructose (r = 0.72*) were observed only in control fruits.
Based on the results of this experiment, we think that the appropriate debagging time is 5-8 days before harvest, and that any practical technique for increasing sucrose concentration in fruits could promote fruit coloring.

IX International Symposium on Integrating Canopy, Rootstock and Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems

H. Zhao, Y. Wang, X.F. Xu, T.Z. Li, J. Kong, X.Z. Zhang, Z.H. Han, H. Liu

Malus × domestica, anthocyanin, glucose, fructose, sucrose

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.903.129