Summer Pruning, an Eco-Friendly Approach to Controlling Bitter Pit and Preserving Sensory Quality in Highly Vigorous Apple cv. ‘Reinette du Canada’

Marcos Guerra, Miguel Ángel Sanz, Álvaro Rodríguez-González and Pedro Antonio Casquero
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Marcos Guerra: Grupo Universitario de Investigación en Ingeniería y Agricultura Sostenible (GUIIAS), Escuela de Ingeniería Agraria y Forestal (EIAF) (Campus de Ponferrada), Universidad de León, Avenida de Astorga s/n, 24401 Ponferrada, Spain
Miguel Ángel Sanz: Laboratorio de Análisis Sensorial, Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León—Junta de Castilla y León, Ctra. Burgos km 119, 47071 Valladolid, Spain
Álvaro Rodríguez-González: Grupo Universitario de Investigación en Ingeniería y Agricultura Sostenible (GUIIAS), Instituto de Medio Ambiente Recursos Naturales y Biodiversidad (INMARENBIO), Escuela de Ingeniería Agraria y Forestal (EIAF), Universidad de León, Avenida de Portugal 41, 24071 León, Spain
Pedro Antonio Casquero: Grupo Universitario de Investigación en Ingeniería y Agricultura Sostenible (GUIIAS), Instituto de Medio Ambiente Recursos Naturales y Biodiversidad (INMARENBIO), Escuela de Ingeniería Agraria y Forestal (EIAF), Universidad de León, Avenida de Portugal 41, 24071 León, Spain

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: Summer pruning reduces vegetative growth in apple trees, but it could have an impact on fruit quality. This study analyzed the effects of summer pruning as an eco-friendly pre-harvest alternative to chemical growth regulation inputs on instrumental and sensory quality of highly vigorous apple cv. ‘Reinette du Canada’, which has been awarded with a Protected Designation of Origin label in two environments. The results showed that summer pruning affected the mineral content of the fruit. Summer pruning reduced bitter pit, but it did not negatively affect fruit weight nor any other instrumental characteristic during storage. Moreover, sensory quality or degree of liking were not affected by summer pruning. Thus, summer pruning could be an eco-friendly pre-harvest alternative to chemical treatments to improve quality in global terms of ‘Reinette du Canada’ apple cultivar, regardless of the location. This technique contributed to the decrease of bitter pit incidence, but did not decrease sensory quality nor degree of liking.

Keywords: calcium; degree of liking; environment; protected designation of origin; storage; sustainable management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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