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- Author or Editor: Benjamin Wiseman x
Slips are side-shoots or fruit with large crowns that grow from buds on the pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) peduncle. The slips are widely used for pineapple vegetative propagation when crowns are left attached to the fruit that is marketed. There is a difference between the two most popular low-acid pineapple hybrids grown worldwide. The ‘Pineapple Research Institute 73-50’ (CO-2, MD-1) slips develop few roots when planted compared with ‘Pineapple Research Institute 73-114’ (MD2). The slow rooting of 73-50 leads to slow field establishment and can extend the crop cycle. Our objective was to determine the cause of this reduced rooting and evaluate treatments to increase the rooting rate. Rooting trials in moist, coarse vermiculite showed that larger slips and green slips with red hues also had a greater number of roots compared with smaller slips and green or yellow slips. Delaying harvesting of the slips after the fruit were harvested also resulted in a greater number of roots. Treatments including components frequently used for rooting cuttings did not significantly increase root numbers. An exception was a tendency for slips treated with potassium nitrate to have greater rooting during some tests. We present data that support the conclusion that the poor root development is associated with the mechanical impedance of the root from the tightly affixed basal leaf bracts. Removal of the lower ten bracts can lead to greater root numbers. When the slip with the bracts removed was tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and masking tape, rooting was reduced. The sizing and selection of slips that are green with a red hue and collected as late as possible after fruit harvest had the best rooting response.
Breadfruit marketing is limited by its rapid ripening and deterioration after harvest; therefore, improved postharvest practices may facilitate breadfruit marketing. This study examined the effect of harvest maturity and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on the postharvest quality of ‘Ma’afala’ breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis). Breadfruit was harvested at 13, 15, and 17 weeks after flowering, and half of each harvest was treated with 1 μL⋅L−1 of 1-MCP for 20 hours. During storage, the weight of the fruit, hand feeling, skin color, respiration rate, and ethylene production rate were evaluated every other day until the fruit deteriorated. Compared with untreated fruit, 1-MCP treatment delayed the climacteric respiratory peak by 6 days (65% delay), delayed complete softening by 7 days (63% delay), and increased uniformity in the number of days to the climacteric respiratory peak and complete softening. Skin discoloration was delayed during the earliest harvest period by 5 days (108% delay). Picking breadfruit at early harvest maturity may be useful for preventing discoloration, and 1-MCP may be useful for preventing softening.