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  • Author or Editor: James C. Baldwin x
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A worldwide search was conducted for sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] selections with higher yield and better juice quality than existing commercial cultivars used in Florida primarily by the processing industry. Seeds of nearly 100 selections were introduced, germinated, and used as a source of buds for propagation. The scion selections were divided among six trials established by propagating juvenile buds from ≈12-month-old scion seedlings onto Swingle citrumelo [C. paradisi Macf. × Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.] rootstock plants already in place in the field. Comparison trees using buds from mature sources were produced in a commercial nursery. The trials consisted of four to five replications of one- or two-tree plots with trees planted 4.3 × 6.7 m within and between rows, respectively. The scions were early-maturing (fall to early winter), midseason (winter to early spring), and late-season (early spring to early summer) common orange, blood orange, and ‘Pera’ orange selections. Data collected routinely included seed counts, standard measurements of juice quality, and yield during an ≈13-year period of evaluation. All trees exhibited typical juvenile traits such as vigor and thorniness; however, flowering and first cropping were not substantially delayed. Many selections began fruiting within 3 years after planting, which is the common commercial experience among trees propagated with mature bud sources. Many selections were low-seeded with counts of less than 10/fruit. Mean cumulative yield (8 years) among the early- and midseason selections in the first-planted trial was 1390 kg/tree and ranged to a high of 1751 kg/tree; for the late-season types, the mean was 947 kg/tree with little variability among eight selections. The yields of the early- to late-season selections in the other trials were similar. The blood orange selections proved to be mostly midseason in maturity. They lacked the deep peel and flesh coloration of blood oranges grown in a Mediterranean-type climate, but some selections did develop an enhanced orange color of the juice and the different flavor typical of blood oranges. ‘Pera’ orange selections exhibited a bud union incompatibility and subsequent decline with Swingle citrumelo rootstock and also when another sweet orange was inserted as an interstock. Their mean cumulative yield over six seasons was 797 kg/tree with an ≈30% difference between the lowest and highest values. Juice soluble solids, acid, and color values were typical of ‘Pera’ fruit grown in Brazil. The overall collection of sweet oranges displayed considerable diversity in their traits despite their supposed origin as a monophyletic group. Several early-season selections were released for commercialization, including ‘Earlygold’ and ‘Itaborai’, because of their better juice color and flavor. ‘Vernia’, a midseason selection, was released because of its high juice quality in late winter–early spring and its cropping precocity.

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‘Hamlin’ is a principal sweet orange grown in Florida for processing. It is productive but produces juice with low soluble solids content and poor color. A long-term trial was conducted in central Florida to determine rootstock effects on yield and juice quality and the effect of economic analysis on the interpretation of the horticultural results. The trees were a commonly used commercial selection of ‘Hamlin’ sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] propagated on 19 rootstocks planted in a randomized complete block design of three-tree plots with six replicates in a Spodosol soil at a density of 350 trees/ha. Routine horticultural data were collected from the original trial (H1) for 10 years. Trees on some rootstocks that grew and yielded poorly were removed within a few years and replaced with a second trial (H2) with 13 rootstocks from which data were collected for 5 years. The H1 data were financially analyzed to compare the relative usefulness of horticultural and economic data in interpreting results and making rootstock decisions. In H1 after 10 years, tree height ranged from greater than 5 m [Volkamer lemon (C. volkameriana Ten. & Pasq.)] and Cleopatra mandarin (C. reshni Hort. ex Tan.) to 2.4 m {Flying Dragon trifoliate orange [Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. ]}. In H2, the trees on somatic hybrid rootstocks were ≈2 m tall after 8 years and 4.4 m among those on mandarins and C-32 citrange (C. sinensis × P. trifoliata). Tree losses from citrus blight were generally low except for the trees on Carrizo and Troyer citranges (greater than 50%). Horticulturally, the highest performing trees in H1, measured by cumulative yield and soluble solids production over 10 years, were those on Carrizo, Troyer, and Benton citranges; poor performers were those on Smooth Flat Seville and Kinkoji (putative sour orange hybrids). Fruit yield and soluble solids production were directly related to tree height regardless of the difference among rootstocks in juice quality. The same relationship existed among the trees in H2 in which the best rootstocks were C-32 and Morton citranges. Trees on Swingle citrumelo (C. paradisi Macf. × P. trifoliata) ranked no. 12 of 19 rootstocks and 9 of 13 rootstocks in H1 and H2, respectively. Financial interpretation of the outcomes to include tree replacement resulting from blight losses did not substantially change the horticultural interpretations. Additional financial analyses demonstrated that the performance of trees on rootstocks with relatively low productivity/tree, like those on C-35 citrange and Kinkoji, would equal those on more vigorous rootstocks when tree vigor was properly matched with spacing. Yield determined the economic outcomes and financial analysis aided the interpretation of rootstock horticultural effects but did not greatly alter the relationship among rootstock results. Highly significant correlations between annual and cumulative data indicated that relative rootstock performance among ‘Hamlin’ orange trees in Florida could be reliably determined based on the first 4 cropping years.

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Two field experiments with ‘Valencia’ sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] trees propagated on 12 rootstocks were conducted in commercial orchards. The objectives were to compare rootstock horticultural performance between two locations with soils representative of the Central Florida Ridge (AP) and coastal flatwoods (I), the major citrus-growing regions in Florida, and to see if financial analysis would provide an improved basis for interpreting rootstock performance. The randomized complete-block trials involved six-tree plots replicated eight or 10 times at planting densities of 358 trees (AP) or 252 trees (I)/ha, respectively. Tree growth and survival, yield, and juice quality were measured for 15 years. When losses occurred, trees were replaced annually with another one on the same rootstock. The data of seven rootstocks were subjected to a financial interpretation of three scenarios: tree loss and tree loss with or without tree replacement using the discounted cash flow and internal rate of return methods at a 15% rate. At the flatwoods location, when differences among replications became apparent on several rootstocks, soil data were collected to study its possible association to tree performance; also in this trial, 400-kg fruit samples were differentially harvested in 2 successive years from mature trees on each of five commercial rootstocks when the juice soluble solids/acid ratio was near 15. The juice was extracted, pasteurized, and evaluated for flavor by an experienced taste panel. The horticultural data obtained for trees on specific well-studied rootstocks [Volkamer (C. volkameriana Ten. & Pasq.)] and rough (C. jambhiri Lush.) lemons, Carrizo citrange [C. sinensis × Poncirus trifoliata (L.)], sour orange [C. aurantium (L.)], Cleopatra mandarin (C. reshni Hort. ex Tan.), trifoliate orange (P. trifoliata), a selection of sweet orange (C. sinensis), and Swingle citrumelo (C. paradisi Macf. × P. trifoliata) at both locations were typical of their well-documented performance in Florida and elsewhere. Tree losses were virtually only from citrus blight and ranged from none (sour orange) to greater than 50% (Volkamer and rough lemons) at both locations, although tree loss began later at the Central Florida location. ‘Valencia’ cuttings (only at the flatwoods site) were long-lived and cropped well for their smaller size compared with the budded trees. Taste panelists were not able to distinguish differences over two seasons among pasteurized ‘Valencia’ juices produced from trees on different rootstocks and normalized by soluble solids/acid ratio. Yield and planting density were the main factors affecting financial outcome; also, in the highly variable soils of the coastal flatwoods, trees growing in sites with greater depth to an argillic layer had 30% to 200% higher yields. Trees on Volkamer lemon had only ≈50% survival at both locations but had the highest ($7,338/ha I) or one of the highest cash flows ($13,464/ha AP) as compared with one of the commercial standards, Carrizo citrange ($6,928 I; $16,826 AP), which had only ≈25% tree loss. Inclusion of financial analysis, with certain limitations, was concluded to considerably improve rootstock selection decisions compared with selection based only on horticultural data.

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Two adjacent rootstock trials were conducted in the east coast Indian River region of Florida with ‘Marsh’ grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) scion. The objective was to find rootstocks to replace sour orange (C. aurantium L.) because of losses to citrus tristeza virus, and to replace Swingle citrumelo [C. paradisi × Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.] because of its limited usefulness in certain poorly drained coastal sites. The trials were conducted in randomized complete blocks with 12 single-tree replicates spaced 4.6 × 6.9 m. The soils were of the Wabasso and Riviera series. The first trial consisted largely of trees on citrange [C. sinensis (L.) Osb. × P. trifoliata] and citrumelo rootstocks, ‘Cipo’ sweet orange (C. sinensis), and various hybrid rootstocks. The second trial involved mandarin rootstocks (C. reticulata Blanco) and sour orange and related rootstocks. Trees were grown for 7 years and yield and juice quality data were collected for the last 4 years of that period. Those rootstocks identified as the most promising, based on combinations of smaller tree size and high productivity and juice quality, were two Sunki mandarin × Swingle trifoliate orange (TF) hybrids (C-54, C-146), a Sunki mandarin × Flying Dragon TF hybrid, C-35 citrange, and a Cleopatra mandarin × Rubidoux TF hybrid (×639). The trees on these five rootstocks cropped well leading to soluble solids (SS) values of 3000 to 4000 kg/ha when they were 7-years old. The trees on C-54 and C-146 were relatively large, somewhat taller than trees on sour orange, whereas those on C-35 and the Sunki × Flying Dragon hybrid were smaller and similar to sour orange in tree height. Fruit quality among the trees on C-35 and the Sunki × Flying Dragon hybrid had relatively high SS concentration (better than sour orange), and the other three rootstocks had relatively lower solids concentration (poorer than sour orange). The trees on C-35 and the Sunki × Flying Dragon hybrid would be good candidates for higher density orchards.

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`Gala' apples [Malus silvestris (L.) var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.] were treated with ethanol vapor (5 mL·kg-1 fruit for 24 hours at 25 °C), heat (4 days at 38 °C and >98% RH), or 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP; 1 or 0.625 μL·L-1 for 18 hours at 20 °C) before processing into slices, then dipped in anti-browning solutions or coatings, drained, and packaged in perforated polyethylene bags. Residual effects of pretreatments on fresh-cut slice physiological and quality attributes were investigated during storage for up to 19 days at 5.5 °C. Ethylene production was reduced by ethanol, heat, and 1-MCP pretreatments, while ethanol and heat also reduced slice respiration. Heat and 1-MCP pretreatments inhibited slice texture changes, while ethanol had no effect on instrumental texture measurements but reduced sensory firmness. Ethanol pretreatment increased the contents of ethanol and ethyl esters in slices but reduced acidity, while heat reduced both acidity and aroma volatile levels. Both ethanol and heat pretreatments led to lower sensory scores for apple flavor and ethanol-pretreated slices also received higher scores for altered flavor, although all scores were in the acceptable range. Slice acidity was best maintained by 1-MCP pretreatment. Shelf life based on appearance was 15 to 16 days for ethanol-pretreated slices and 12 days for heat-pretreated slices compared to that of control, which was 8 to 9 days, while 1-MCP pretreatment promoted decay development on the cut surface, which reduced the shelf life to 7 to 8 days. Obvious separations were determined between ethanol- and heat-pretreated slices and untreated control by canonical discriminant analysis of headspace volatile levels determined by GC and electronic nose. Therefore, pretreatments with ethanol and heat are very effective for prolonging visual shelf life at the expense of aroma quality.

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