EFFECTS OF AMINOETHOXYVINYLCLYCINE ON FRUIT SET AND ON CONTROL OF RIPENING IN ACEROLA

Despite having a very high vitamin C content, the tropical fruit Acerola, is rarely marketed as a fresh fruit because the ripening period and duration suitable for fresh consumption is very short. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of 2-aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) and bioregulators Gibberellic acid (GA3), 4-Chloro-Phenoxy-Acetic acid (4-CPA) and 2 chloroethyl phosphonic acid (Ethephon) on fruit set, coloration and maturity. Trees failed to set fruit after the application of AVG during anthesis and fruit setting. Applying AVG 100 ppm plus 4-CPA 15 ppm or GA3 25 ppm tended to improve fruit set compared with 4-CPA or GA3 alone. Ethephon 100 ppm clearly accelerated coloration and abscission, causing fruit to drop from 2 to 3 days after application, and 50% fruit drop after 4 to 5 days, even if coloration was incomplete in some fruit. By comparison, AVG 100 ppm delayed coloration, and many fruits were retained on the tree 2 to 3 days after 90% coloration, and fifty percent fruit drop did not occur until 6 - 10 days after treatment. When AVG 100 ppm was applied to fruits at different stages of coloration, the earlier the treatment was applied, in terms of percentage of coloration, the longer the fruit were retained before fruit drop.