Morphological differences in vegetative and fruit characteristics among eight pepino (Solanum muricatum Ait.) cultivars in Japan
We cultivated eight cultivars of pepino (Solanum muricatum Ait.) during two distinct growing seasons: i.e., from winter to early autumn (Experiment 1) and from autumn to summer (Experiment 2) in Japan, in order to investigate the characteristics of their plants and fruits.
The average number of flowers per inflorescence was markedly higher in Gold Q. At the completion of cultivation for each experiment, the average stem length (from the soil surface to the shoot apex) was longer in Applinmimee, Royal, and Royal Custard but shorter in Philly. The average fruit weight was higher in Applinmimee, Gold No.1 and Royal (300 g or heavier in both experiments) but lower in Gold Q, Monroe Dance and Philly. The soluble solids content of fruits was highest in Gold Q (7.6 °Brix in Experiment 1 and 10.3°Brix in Experiment 2), relatively high in Gold No.1, Royal and Royal Custard, and lowest in Gold Boy. The fruit were heart-shaped in Applinmimee, round in Gold Boy, Gold No.1 and Gold Q, rectangular in Monroe Dance, elliptical in Philly, and obovate in Royal and Royal Custard. The size of purple stripes on the skin of the fruit relative to fruit size was large in Royal and Royal Custard, intermediate in Applinmimee and small in other cultivars.
Also, fruit weight and the soluble solids content of each cultivar varied with the cultivation season.
These results provide useful information for the future production and breeding of pepinos in Japan.
Takahata, K., Mizumura, H., Shinohara, H., Kim, O.K., Ishikawa, T., Niwa, K., Fujisawa, H., Tada, K., Irisawa, T., Mitsui, Y., Nishio, Z., Yoshida, M., Mitarai, Y., Taniguchi, A.Y., Noguchi, H., Kazami, M., Kawaguchi, Y., Kiryu, Y., Kawabata, S. and Baba, T. (2020). Morphological differences in vegetative and fruit characteristics among eight pepino (Solanum muricatum Ait.) cultivars in Japan. Acta Hortic. 1299, 43-50
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2020.1299.7
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2020.1299.7
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2020.1299.7
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2020.1299.7
plant growth, fruit weight, fruit appearance, soluble solids content
English
1299_7
43-50