More than 90% of oranges in Florida are processed, and since Huanglongbing (HLB) disease has been rumored to affect fruit flavor, chemical and physical analyses were conducted on fruit and juice from healthy (Las -) and diseased (Las +) trees on three juice processing varieties over two seasons, and in some cases several harvests. Fruit, both asymptomatic and symptomatic for the disease, were u...

Small-sized peach (Prunus persica [L.] Batsch.) trees for commercial fruit production have not been available due to the lack of suitable dwarfing rootstocks that have a wide range of compatibility among cultivars. Effects of partial girdling and trunk heating on the growth, yield, and fruit quality of peach were studied. A 4 cm wide partial ring of bark was removed at a height of 25 cm from th...

Literature is reviewed on the spatial distribution of the eggs and neonate larvae of codling moth on apple trees in relation to research conducted in Nelson, New Zealand. At Nelson, oviposition increased with height and was greater in the north and east of the trees and in those with greater fruit load in some seasons, which matches published reports. All publications and the research recorded ...

In orchards, the variations of fruit quality and its determinants are crucial for resource effective measures. In the present study, a drip-irrigated plum production (Prunus domestica L. "Tophit plus"/Wavit) located in a semi-humid climate was studied. Analysis of the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of soil showed spatial patterns of sand lenses in the orchard. Water status of sample tre...

BACKGROUND Transgenic trees currently are being produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and biolistics. The future use of transformed trees on a commercial basis depends upon thorough evaluation of the potential environmental and public health risk of the modified plants, transgene stability over a prolonged period of time and the effect of the gene on tree and fruit characteristics. ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The distribution of canopy growth among different shoot types such as epicormic, long and short shoots is not well understood in the peach tree. In this experiment, the effects of crop load and early epicormic sprout removal on current and subsequent-year distribution of vegetative growth among epicormic, long and short shoots was investigated in Prunus persica. METHODS Fi...

A field experiment was conducted to determine effects of concentration and spray volume of metsulfuron-methyl as an abscission aid for mechanical harvesting of citrus. Concentrations of 1, 2, and 4 mg·L metsulfuron-methyl were applied to ‘Hamlin’ orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] trees at 470, 1900, and 4700 L·ha (0.5 to 19 g·ha a.i.). Effective fruit loosening was achieved with all applicat...

In this study we have demonstrated the variations of carbohydrates and phenolic compounds present in the leaves and stems of ‘Kinnow’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) trees in alternate bearing cycle and the possible involvement of these compounds to flower bud formation process. The amounts of these compounds were determined in the leaves and stems of “on” and “off” trees  monthly  from Nov...

Anthracnose caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides causes serious post harvest losses of avocado fruit worldwide. Typically, infections are initiated in the field on unripe fruit, but remain quiescent as germinated appressoria until fruit ripening. Over the past two decades pepper spot, a pre-harvest disease also caused by C. gloeosporioides, has been reported on 'Hass' av...

A Blessing in Decline Fruits native to the African continent offer nutrients that often come up short in local diets, and they grow on trees that provide a range of ecosystem services. But deforestation is threatening Africa's indigenous fruit trees. Now researchers and local farmers are partnering to ensure the trees have a future.