Morphological and Physio-chemical Characterization of Five Canistel Accessions at the Subtropical Horticulture Research Station in Miami Florida
and 'TREC 3680' were evaluated and characterized at the National Germplasm
Repository, Subtropical horticulture Research Station (SHRS) Miami, Florida.
Thirty fruits were harvested from clonal accessions during July and August, 2012
and allowed to ripen at room temperature (24-29 oC).
Physical characteristic of fruit were determined by measuring fruit and seed length, diameter, and weight and number of seeds per fruit. Canistel physio-chemical characteristics were determined by measuring the Brix (°Bx), pH, and tritatable acidity values.
Most of the fruits were conical-shaped and had a deep yellow flesh and peel color. Storage/maturation time were 5-8 days for, 5-7 days for, 7-11 days for and 4-7 for 'Fairchild'. The mean fruit weight for ‘TREC#3’ showed the highest 402.03 grams at harvest time and 365.19 grams at ripening stage and a weight loss of 9.27 grams, whereas for 'Fairchild' was 197.72 grams at harvest time and 180.17 grams after ripening an average of 9.03 % weight loss. Mean fruit length and diameter was significantly lower with ‘Fairchild’ with 76.62, 73.81 mm respectively.
Total soluble solids (TSS) content for ‘Fairchild’ was the highest 22.08 OBrix. Whereas 'Keisau' showed the lowest TSS at 19.16 OBrix. ‘Trec 3680’ had an average of 3.87 seeds per fruit significantly higher than all but ‘TREC#3’.
‘Fairchild' showed the lowest value for all parameters except brix (total soluble content) which was the highest at 22.08. Citric, tartaric and malic acid content was the highest in cultivars 'TREC3680', 'E11' and TREC#3, whereas the lowest was reported on clones ‘Fairchild’ and 'Keisau'.
Fresh dry weight ratio was the highest in 'E11' with 57.67%, and the lowest in cultivar 'Keisau' 50.67%. The ripened flesh of most cultivars was slightly moist, very sweet, and had good flavor.