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Liming and quality of guava fruit cultivated in Brazil
Scientia Horticulturae 106 (2005) 91–102 www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti
Liming and quality of guava fruit cultivated in Brazil Renato de Mello Prado a,*, William Natale a, Jose´ Antoˆnio Alberto da Silva b a
Department of Soils and Fertilizers, FCAV/Unesp, 14870-000, Jaboticabal, Sa˜o Paulo, Brasil b Estac¸a˜o Experimental de Citricultura de Bebedouro, Sa˜o Paulo, Brasil
Received 6 September 2004; received in revised form 16 February 2005; accepted 1 March 2005
Abstract An experiment was conducted on guava trees Psidium guajava L. (cv. Paluma) grown in the Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, SP, on dystrophic, acid Typical Hapludox in order to assess the effects of application of increasing lime doses to the soil on the quality of guava fruits on the basis of the physicochemical changes observed in the fruits after harvesting. The treatments consisted of increasing lime doses applied before planting, considering 0, 1.85, 3.79, 5.56 and 7.41 t ha1, applied in August 1999. Leaf calcium content was assessed at flowering time. After fruit harvesting, calcium content in the pulp, total weight, transverse diameter, length, pulp weight, % pulp, Brix degrees (8Brix), titratable acidity, and fruit ratio were determined. Loss of fruit fresh mass, firmness and color were determined daily during a period of 8 days of storage. Lime application to an acid Red Latosol before guava tree planting did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits but provided a lower loss of fresh matter and greater fruit firmness when the fruits presented Ca levels close to 0.99 g kg1. It is important to conduct new studies of the effects of liming on guava fruit quality under different edaphic-climatic conditions and on different guava tree genotypes. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Psidium guajava; Fruit; Calcium; Liming; Post-harvest; Quality
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +02116 3209 2672; fax: +02116 3209 2672. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. de Mello Prado). 0304-4238/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2005.03.001
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1. Introduction Both the internal and external markets are currently manifesting a greater demand for fruit quality, which is important for the expansion of Brazilian export of fresh fruit, today corresponding to only 1% of the national production. Among the various factors that act on fruit quality, particularly important are those related to nutrition. The fertilization of fruit trees, in addition to increasing production, can affect the physicochemical characteristics of the fruits, reducing the content of total soluble solids and acidity in wine grapes, with quality impairment (Pire and Rivas, 1987). In this respect, the great challenge for investigators who work with plant nutrition is to obtain both high yields and good quality. The quality of fruits is attributed to their physical characteristics concerning the outer appearance, with emphasis on size, shape and rind color. These characteristics represent factors of fruit acceptability on the part of consumers. Together with these attributes, fruit composition is also highly relevant in view of the presence of several physicochemical constituents of the pulp. It is this intrinsic quality that provides the organoleptic and nutritional quality of fruits and of the products obtained from them, which are responsible for their ultimate acceptance on the market (Kader, 1985). To preserve the quality of fruits after harvesting and to prolong their shelf life, various techniques can be used such as irradiation of phytohormones and the most common procedure, which is refrigeration/freezing. A low temperature delays fruit degradation by reducing its biological and chemical activity (Thompson, 1985); however, freezing forms ice crystals inside tissue cells, favoring the loss of juice with nutrients by exudation upon thawing and reducing soluble solid content (Bernhardt et al., 1979). In addition, there is the economic factor, which increases the value of fruit. Another technique of low cost and high efficiency is the application of nutrients, with Ca being the most promising and the most extensively studied element. About 60% of the total cellular calcium is located in the cell wall (middle layer), where it exerts its stabilizing function (Tobias et al., 1993), affecting the texture, firmness and ripening of fruits (Hanson et al., 1993) and reducing the rate of Vitamin C degradation, ethylene and CO2 production and the incidence of post-harvest diseases (Conway and Sams, 1983). Indeed, calcium deficiency leads to a marked deterioration of the membranes, with changes in their architecture and fluidity and with permeability to water (Poovaiah, 1986). Calcium can be supplied to plants, and consequently to fruits, in several ways. The application of corrective materials such as lime or metalwork refuse as sources of calcium may be advantageous by favoring the chemical properties of the soil, with better utilization of fertilizers, and guaranteeing the presence of calcium in the fruits. In fact, since calcium is an element that is immobile in the plant, it must be continuously absorbed from the soil. In this respect, leaf application of calcium is of low efficiency for fruit nutrition. Other options in addition to liming are application of calcium to the fruits after harvesting although the efficiency of this procedure depends on the fruit tree under study, in addition to other factors. The results of this technique reported in the literature are contradictory, with good post-harvest quality reported for fruits such as strawberries (Cheour et al., 1991) and passion fruit (Silva and Vieites, 2000) and no significant effect
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observed in jaboticabas (Mota et al., 1997) or guava cv. Kumagai (Carvalho et al., 1998). Even repeated applications (up to four times) during fruit development had no beneficial effect on the quality of mangoes, since no Ca increase occurred in the pulp (Rabelo et al., 1996; Silva and Menezes, 2000). It should be pointed out that the use of this technique in fruit such as guava has little chance of being successful during the process of Ca absorption due to the presence of a thick cuticle, epicuticular wax, three subepidermal layers of compact cells, and a large quantity of clereids, as pointed out by Moˆ ro et al. (2002) in a morphological study of histological slides of the pericarp of guava fruit. These investigators also stated that the presence of stomata in the fruits is sporadic and disperse. On this basis, the authors concluded that fruit morphology may represent a barrier to the absorption and transport of substances in guava fruit. Thus, liming is considered to be a more effective technique with long-lasting effects in terms of the maintenance of Ca content in fruits, which directly reflects on guava quality. In view of the lack of information about this topic in the literature, the objective of the present study was to assess the effect of application of increasing doses of lime to soil on the quality of first production guava fruit by monitoring the post-harvest physicochemical changes of the fruits.
2. Material and methods The trial was conducted at the Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, located at 384 km along the Brigadeiro Faria Lima highway (SP 326), 5 km from the Municipality of Bebedouro, SP, Brazil, 208530 1600 S latitude and 488280 1100 W longitude, at an altitude of 601 meters. According to the Ko¨ ppen classification, the local climate is of the subtropical Cwa type, with a short, moderate and dry winter and a warm and rainy summer characterizing two distinct seasons. The soil is Typical Hapludox. Before the trial was set up, 20 soil subsamples were collected to form the composite sample in layers of 0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm. Data concerning chemical analysis for the determination of fertility are presented in Table 1. The experimental design adopted was randomized blocks with five treatments and four replicates. Increasing lime doses were used for the treatments considering base saturation to be 70%, indicated as ideal for guava culture (Santos and Quaggio, 1996). The doses were calculated for a 0–30 cm layer as follows: D0 = zero lime, D1 = half the dose needed to increase V = 70%, D2 = dose needed to increase V = 70%, D3 = 1.5 times the dose needed to increased V = 70%, and D4 = twice the dose needed to increase V = 70%, corresponding to 0, 1.85, 3.79, 5.56 and 7.41 t ha1. The lime used in the experiment contained 455.5 g CaO per kg and 102.1 g MgO per kg; neutralizing power (PN) was 107%, reactivity (RE) was 94%, and total real neutralizing power (TRNP) was 100%. Lime was manually applied to the entire surface of the plot, half of it before incorporation with a stake plow and the other half applied and incorporated with a plowing grid. Lime incorporation was performed to a depth of 30 cm, applied in August 1999. The experimental plots consisted of five guava plants (cv. Paluma, propagated from herbaceous stakes), with the three central ones being considered as useful trees for evaluation. Spacing was 7 m between rows and 4.2 m between trees. Guava trees were
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Layer (cm)
pH CaCl2
Organic matter (g dm3)
P resin (mg dm3)
K+ (mmolcdm3)
Ca+2 (mmolcdm3)
Mg+2 (mmolcdm3)
(H + Al) (mmolcdm3)
SB (mmolcdm3)
T (mmolcdm3)
V value (%)
0–20 20–40 40–60
4.7 4.4 4.4
18 16 16
6 3 4
1.3 0.6 0.6
9 6 7
4 3 4
40 42 45
14.3 9.6 11.6
54.3 51.6 56.6
26 19 20
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Table 1 Chemical properties of the soil in the experimental area
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planted on December 12, 1999 and were submitted to irrigation. All plants received NPK throughout the year. Basic fertilization consisted of a mixture of 200 g P2O5, 20 L organic compost, 1.0 g B and 2.0 g Zn. Cover fertilization for the 1st and 2nd year consisted of 140 and 200 g N and 112 and 50 g K2O per tree, respectively. To assess the effect of liming on plant nutrition we determined leaf calcium content during full blooming by sampling leaves as indicated by Natale et al. (1996) for guava culture (third pair of newly ripened leaves with a petiole). Calcium concentration in leaves and fruits was determined by the method of extraction by nitric–perchloric acid. digestion and atom absorption spectrometry (Bataglia et al., 1983). Thirty fruits per plot were picked when they presented a firm texture and a rind color from green to mate, with yellow color starting to form at the base of the fruits (Garcia, 1978). This harvest refers to the 1st year of production of 2-year-old guava trees. After harvesting, the fruits were measured in terms of total weight, transverse diameter (axis perpendicular to the length in the middle part of the fruit), length (axis between the insertion of the peduncle and the petiole scar), pulp weight, % pulp, 8Brix, titratable acidity, and fruit ratio. Fresh mass loss, firmness and color of the fruits were also determined daily over a period of 8 days of storage. The fruits were stored at room temperature (25 5 8C). Total soluble solid content of the pulp (8Brix) was determined with a table refractometer (ATAGO-3T). For the determination of titratable acidity (g citric acid per 100 g pulp), 5 mL of pulp were titrated with 0.1N NaOH using three drops of phenolphthalein (10 g L1) as an indicator and the results were expressed as g citric acid equivalents in 100 mL of pulp (Tressler and Joslyn, 1961). Pulp firmness (N) was determined with the aid of a penetrometer (Model FDV-10) with a tip diameter of 5/16 in. The color of the rind was determined using a 1–5 subjective scale in which 1 = fully green, 2 = more green than yellow, 3 = equal portions of green and yellow, 4 = more yellow than green, and 5 = fully yellow (Silva and Vieites, 2000).
3. Results Considering the mean doses of lime, the results showed that the fruits stored for 8 days presented a linear increase in weight loss and reduction of fruit firmness during this period (Fig. 1). Liming did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits such as total weight, transverse diameter, length, pulp weight or % pulp, whereas it did significantly affect chemical characteristics such as titratable acidity, although with no effect on soluble solids (Table 2). Although liming increased plant nutrition with Ca (Fig. 2), it did not affect fruit growth, showing that the major role of Ca is not cell multiplication but restructuring and functioning of the membranes. According to Tobias et al. (1993), 60% of the total cellular calcium is located in the cell wall. Mikami et al. (2000) also did not observe a favorable effect of Ca and Mg application to the soil on mean guava fruit (cv. Paluma) weight. Evaluation of the effect of liming doses for each storage day showed a significant difference for fresh mass weight over the 8 days of storage; for firmness, the significant difference started on the 3rd day (Fig. 1) and for color it started between the 4th and 7th
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Fig. 1. Effect of days of storage on loss of weight and firmness of guava fruit (mean for the five lime doses).
days of storage (Table 3). These beneficial effects of liming on the post-harvest quality of guava fruits in terms of loss of fresh mass, firmness and color are explained by the known role of Ca in fruit quality, since liming supplied the element to the plants, as shown by its increase in leaves and fruits (Fig. 2). Thus, the presence of Ca in the fruits was positively correlated with the variables fresh mass loss and firmness, and the lowest weight loss and greatest fruit firmness were associated with Ca concentrations of 0.99 g kg1 (Fig. 3). Calcium application significantly reduced the loss of fresh mass during all days of storage, with the fruits of the control plots showing a 26.5% weight reduction by the last day of storage, as opposed to a 19.6% reduction obtained with the best liming treatment (Fig. 1). Considering 10–15% losses for commercialization to be acceptable (Dalal et al., 1971), it can be seen that the fruits could be marketed without great losses up to the 6th day of storage under ambient conditions for the treatment with liming and up to the 4th day for the control fruit not treated with liming. The results presented in Table 3 show the influence of lime application on the color of the fruit rind, starting on the 4th day of storage and lasting until the 7th day, with the control always presenting a greater evolution of the yellow color or greater degradation of the green pigments (chlorophyll). These results indicate the same behavior as described for the loss of fresh mass and firmness, with the liming treatments being the most effective in delaying the evolution of peel color.
4. Discussion Fruit firmness was significantly reduced from harvest time (day 0) to the 1st day of storage, probably due to the conditions of fruit storage at ambient temperature, whereas the reduction of firmness would be attenuated under refrigerated storage conditions. Thus, the fresh matter weight loss increased six-fold from the first to the 8th day of storage, whereas firmness suffered a five-fold reduction. At the end of storage (7th and 8th days), weight loss reached 18 and 22%, respectively. A similar result was obtained by Singh and Chauhan (1982) with guava (cv. L-49) cultivated in India, with an 18% weight
Lime dose (t ha1)
Fruit weight (g)
Transverse diameter (cm)
Fruit length (cm)
Pulp weight (g)
% Pulp
Soluble solids (g acid per 100 g)
0 1.85 3.79 5.56 7.41
143.4 151.0 130.6 134.6 135.6
6.6 6.6 6.3 6.4 6.4
6.6 6.8 6.4 6.4 6.5
95.4 103.2 88.6 87.3 90.1
66.5 68.3 67.8 64.8 66.4
7.6 7.8 7.5 7.0 7.4
Test F
1.3ns
1.7ns
1.2ns
1.5ns
2.6ns
3.2ns
DMSa
–
–
–
–
–
–
3.0
4.4
2.5
4.4
CV (%)
10.2
11.4
The values with letters (a and b) are significant at the 5% level of probability. a Tukey test (P < 0.05). ns Non significant. ** Significant at the 1% level of probability.
Titratable acidity (g acid per 100 g) 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5
a b b b b
11.4**
Ratio (g acid per 100 g) 11.3 16.1 16.4 15.4 16.6
b a a ab a
5.6**
0.1
4.2
11.7
12.2
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Table 2 Effects of liming on the physicochemical characteristics of guava fruits at harvesting time (Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, SP)
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Fig. 2. Effect of lime application to guava trees on leaf calcium content at full flowering time and on fruit pulp calcium content.
loss after 8 days of storage at room temperature. However, Adsule and Tondon (1983) observed that the loss of guava (cv. Allahabad) fresh mass weight reached 30%. These differences occur due to the variation in climatic conditions and in the cultivars used by the authors. This positive correlation between weight loss and days of storage was also observed in other fruit such as grapes (Castro et al., 1999). It should also be pointed out that, even though the weight loss observed in the present study suggested linearity along the storage period, we cannot state that this phenomenon would continue after 8 days of storage. The phenomenon of reduced firmness or softening of the fruits has been interpreted as a change in the pectic materials that cement the cell wall and is characterized by the solubilization of pectic substances of the middle lamella (Roe and Bruemmer, 1981), which occurs in an orderly manner. At first there is relaxation of the cell wall and hemicellulose degradation and at the end there is pectin depolymerization (Huber et al., 2001), with the process being intensified when the fruits are stored at room temperature. It should also be pointed out that, although liming did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits such as fruit mean weight, it increased the production of fruits per guava plantation hectare since there was a significant effect of liming on guava fruit production: y (t fruits ha1) = 14.377 + 0.5337 (t lime ha1), R2 = 0.73**). This increased production due to liming in acid soil does not occur only because of the increase in Ca levels available in soil, but also because of the increase in basic cation levels (Ca, Mg and K), the neutralization of toxic effects such as those of Al and Mn, and because of the increased activity of the soil microbiota (Brady, 1989). Taken together, these effects increase the growth of the root system of guava trees (Prado and Natale, 2004), with consequent better development and production of fruits. It should also be added that the effect of lime on the soil–plant system does not occur on a short-term basis, in contrast to the use of chalk, in view of the greater solubility of the latter (Ririe et al., 1952). Liming significantly reduced titratable acidity and increased the soluble solid/titratable acidity ratio. This increase in ratio from 11.3 to 16.6 can be explained by the reduction in acidity, indicating that the application of lime to guava trees resulted in sweeter fruits. However, the technique of Ca application to the fruits does not alter their general chemical
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Table 3 Effect of liming on the colora of guava fruits during storage (Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, SP) Lime dose (t ha1)
Days of storage 0
1
2
0 1.85 3.79 5.56 7.41
1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3
1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3
3.0 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.0
3.7 3.0 2.7 2.3 2.3
Test F
0.0ns
0.0ns
2.7ns
4.0*
CV (%)
0.0
0.0
16.1
3
17.2
4 a b b b b
4.0 3.3 3.3 3.3 2.7
5 a ab ab ab b
5.7* 10.2
4.7 4.3 4.0 4.0 2.7
6 a a ab ab b
6.1* 13.5
5.0 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.0
7 a ab ab ab b
5.0 5.0 4.3 4.3 4.0
8 a a ab ab b
5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.7
4.0*
6.0*
1.0ns
7.2
7.0
5.2
The values with letters (a and b) are significant at the 5% level of probability. a Color was scored as follows: 1, fully green; 2, more green than yellow; 3, green and yellow in equal parts; 4, more yellow than green; and 5, fully yellow. ns Non significant. * Significant at the 5% level of probability.
characteristics (Amen, 1987) or the ratio (Giannoni, 2000) in a significant manner. This higher acidity in the control treatment with no liming may have occurred as a function of the greater degradation of ascorbic acid (Khedkar et al., 1982) or even due to the effect of higher ascorbic acid concentrations in the fruits owing to the greater loss of moisture (Adsule and Tondon, 1983) in these plants that did not receive the application of a Ca source. It can also be seen that the differences between the control and the best liming treatment increased with days of storage, ranging from 1.4 to 6.9%, showing that the beneficial effects of liming for post-harvest preservation increased with period of storage. Since no field studies are available in the literature for comparison with the present results, we will discuss those that report calcium application to the fruits. Some of these studies have reported no significant effect of Ca on the fruit in terms of reduction of fresh mass
Fig. 3. Relationship between calcium content of the fruit pulp and loss of weight and firmness of guava fruits after 8 days of storage at room temperature.
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(Carvalho et al., 1998; Lima, 1999) or even a negative effect, with increased Ca concentration in the solution, especially after a longer period of storage (after the 6th day) (Giannoni, 2000). There are also other reports showing that treatment by calcium application to the fruits caused a significant difference in relation to the control reaching up to 2% for cv. Sardar (Singh et al., 1984), 0.2% for cv. Kumagai (Giannoni, 2000), less than 4% for cv. Rica, and less than 1% for cv. Paluma (Tavares, 1993). With respect to the effect of liming dose on fruit firmness, this variable was significantly increased starting on the 2nd day of storage (Fig. 1). Thus, these effects of lime application causing greater fruit firmness can be explained, as mentioned earlier, by the role of Ca in the rigidity of rind tissues and consequently in the reduction of water loss from the fruit and even in the reduction of respiratory rate, protein degradation and the occurrence of opportunistic microorganisms (Bangerth et al., 1972). It should be pointed out that this reduction in fruit firmness with storage reflects the statement made by Chitarra and Chitarra (1994) who reported that firmness (or texture) is closely related to the solubilization of pectic substances, with conversion of insoluble pectin to soluble pectin causing fruit softening and reduced resistance. Giannoni (2000) did not observe a positive response to treatment with Ca application to the fruit in terms of fruit firmness. When post-harvesting handling is involved, firmness is essential because firmer fruits are more resistant to mechanical injury during transport and marketing.
5. Conclusions The application of lime to an acid Red Latossol before guava tree planting did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits but produced a lower loss of fresh matter weight and a greater fruit firmness, when the fruits presented Ca levels close to 0.99 g kg1. It is important to conduct further studies on the effect of liming on the quality of guava fruit under different edaphic-climatic conditions and using different guava tree genotypes.
Acknowledgments We are grateful to FAPESP – Fundac¸a˜ o de Amparo a` Pesquisa do Estado de Sa˜ o Paulo, Brazil, for granting a fellowship to the senior author (Proc. 00/00758-0).
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Rabelo, J.E.S., Silva, M.M., Gaspar, J.W., Couto, F.A.A., 1996. Efeito da aplicac¸a˜ o foliar de cloreto de ca´ lcio e a´ cido bo´ rico sobre o ‘‘colapso interno’’ da manga ‘‘Tommy Altkins’’. In: Sa˜ o Jose´ , A.R., Souza, I.V.B., Martins Filho, J., Morais, O.M. (Eds.) Manga: Tecnologia de Produc¸a˜ o e Mercado. DFZ/UESB, Vito´ ria da Conquista, pp. 136–138. Ririe, D., Toth, S.J., Bear, F.E., 1952. Movement and effect of lime and gypsum in soil. Soil Sci. 73, 23–35. Roe, B., Bruemmer, J.H., 1981. Changes in pectin substances and enzymes during ripening and storange of ‘‘Keitt’’ mangoes. J. Food Sci. 46, 186–189. Santos, R.R., Quaggio, J.A., 1996. Goiaba. In: van Raij, B., Cantarella, H., Guaggio, J.A., Furlani, A.M.C. (Eds.), Recomendac¸o˜ es de Adubac¸a˜ o e Calagem Para o Estado de Sa˜ o Paulo. Instituto Agronoˆ mico, Campinas, Brazil, p. 143. Silva, A.P., Vieites, R.L., 2000. Tratamento po´ s-colheita com cloreto de ca´ lcio aplicado por infiltrac¸a˜ o, nas caracterı´sticas fı´sicas do maracujazeiro. Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura 22, 73–76. Silva, A.V.C., Menezes, J.B., 2000. Qualidade de manga ‘‘Tommy atkis’’submetida a aplicac¸a˜ o pre´ -colheita de cloreto de ca´ lcio. Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura 22, 86–90. Singh, K., Chauhan, K.S., 1982. Effect of certain post-harvest treatments on storage life of cv L-49 of guava. Haryana J. Hort. Sci. 11, 163–167. Singh, R.V., Joshi, M.C., Ram, H.B., Bishi, N.S., 1984. Effect of waxcoating & prepackaging on the storange behaviour of guava cv Allahabad Safeda. Indian Food Packer 38, 80–85. Tavares, J.C., 1993. Efeitos da refrigerac¸a˜ o, cera, fungicida e ca´ lcio na conservac¸a˜ o po´ s-colheita da goiaba ‘‘Paluma’’(Psidium guajava L.). Doctoral thesis, Faculdade de Cieˆ ncias Agra´ rias e Veterina´ rias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, Brazil. Thompson, J.F., 1985. Storange systems. In: Kader, A.A. (Ed.), Postharvest technology of horticultural crops. University of California, USA, pp. 49–53. Tobias, R.B., Conway, W.S., Sams, C.E., 1993. Cell wall composition of calcium-treated apples inoculated with Botrytis cinera. Phytochemistry 32, 35–39. Tressler, D., Joslyn, M., 1961. Fruits and Vegetables Juice – Processing Technology. AVI Publications, Westport.
Liming and quality of guava fruit cultivated in Brazil Renato de Mello Prado a,*, William Natale a, Jose´ Antoˆnio Alberto da Silva b a
Department of Soils and Fertilizers, FCAV/Unesp, 14870-000, Jaboticabal, Sa˜o Paulo, Brasil b Estac¸a˜o Experimental de Citricultura de Bebedouro, Sa˜o Paulo, Brasil
Received 6 September 2004; received in revised form 16 February 2005; accepted 1 March 2005
Abstract An experiment was conducted on guava trees Psidium guajava L. (cv. Paluma) grown in the Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, SP, on dystrophic, acid Typical Hapludox in order to assess the effects of application of increasing lime doses to the soil on the quality of guava fruits on the basis of the physicochemical changes observed in the fruits after harvesting. The treatments consisted of increasing lime doses applied before planting, considering 0, 1.85, 3.79, 5.56 and 7.41 t ha1, applied in August 1999. Leaf calcium content was assessed at flowering time. After fruit harvesting, calcium content in the pulp, total weight, transverse diameter, length, pulp weight, % pulp, Brix degrees (8Brix), titratable acidity, and fruit ratio were determined. Loss of fruit fresh mass, firmness and color were determined daily during a period of 8 days of storage. Lime application to an acid Red Latosol before guava tree planting did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits but provided a lower loss of fresh matter and greater fruit firmness when the fruits presented Ca levels close to 0.99 g kg1. It is important to conduct new studies of the effects of liming on guava fruit quality under different edaphic-climatic conditions and on different guava tree genotypes. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Psidium guajava; Fruit; Calcium; Liming; Post-harvest; Quality
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +02116 3209 2672; fax: +02116 3209 2672. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. de Mello Prado). 0304-4238/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2005.03.001
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1. Introduction Both the internal and external markets are currently manifesting a greater demand for fruit quality, which is important for the expansion of Brazilian export of fresh fruit, today corresponding to only 1% of the national production. Among the various factors that act on fruit quality, particularly important are those related to nutrition. The fertilization of fruit trees, in addition to increasing production, can affect the physicochemical characteristics of the fruits, reducing the content of total soluble solids and acidity in wine grapes, with quality impairment (Pire and Rivas, 1987). In this respect, the great challenge for investigators who work with plant nutrition is to obtain both high yields and good quality. The quality of fruits is attributed to their physical characteristics concerning the outer appearance, with emphasis on size, shape and rind color. These characteristics represent factors of fruit acceptability on the part of consumers. Together with these attributes, fruit composition is also highly relevant in view of the presence of several physicochemical constituents of the pulp. It is this intrinsic quality that provides the organoleptic and nutritional quality of fruits and of the products obtained from them, which are responsible for their ultimate acceptance on the market (Kader, 1985). To preserve the quality of fruits after harvesting and to prolong their shelf life, various techniques can be used such as irradiation of phytohormones and the most common procedure, which is refrigeration/freezing. A low temperature delays fruit degradation by reducing its biological and chemical activity (Thompson, 1985); however, freezing forms ice crystals inside tissue cells, favoring the loss of juice with nutrients by exudation upon thawing and reducing soluble solid content (Bernhardt et al., 1979). In addition, there is the economic factor, which increases the value of fruit. Another technique of low cost and high efficiency is the application of nutrients, with Ca being the most promising and the most extensively studied element. About 60% of the total cellular calcium is located in the cell wall (middle layer), where it exerts its stabilizing function (Tobias et al., 1993), affecting the texture, firmness and ripening of fruits (Hanson et al., 1993) and reducing the rate of Vitamin C degradation, ethylene and CO2 production and the incidence of post-harvest diseases (Conway and Sams, 1983). Indeed, calcium deficiency leads to a marked deterioration of the membranes, with changes in their architecture and fluidity and with permeability to water (Poovaiah, 1986). Calcium can be supplied to plants, and consequently to fruits, in several ways. The application of corrective materials such as lime or metalwork refuse as sources of calcium may be advantageous by favoring the chemical properties of the soil, with better utilization of fertilizers, and guaranteeing the presence of calcium in the fruits. In fact, since calcium is an element that is immobile in the plant, it must be continuously absorbed from the soil. In this respect, leaf application of calcium is of low efficiency for fruit nutrition. Other options in addition to liming are application of calcium to the fruits after harvesting although the efficiency of this procedure depends on the fruit tree under study, in addition to other factors. The results of this technique reported in the literature are contradictory, with good post-harvest quality reported for fruits such as strawberries (Cheour et al., 1991) and passion fruit (Silva and Vieites, 2000) and no significant effect
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observed in jaboticabas (Mota et al., 1997) or guava cv. Kumagai (Carvalho et al., 1998). Even repeated applications (up to four times) during fruit development had no beneficial effect on the quality of mangoes, since no Ca increase occurred in the pulp (Rabelo et al., 1996; Silva and Menezes, 2000). It should be pointed out that the use of this technique in fruit such as guava has little chance of being successful during the process of Ca absorption due to the presence of a thick cuticle, epicuticular wax, three subepidermal layers of compact cells, and a large quantity of clereids, as pointed out by Moˆ ro et al. (2002) in a morphological study of histological slides of the pericarp of guava fruit. These investigators also stated that the presence of stomata in the fruits is sporadic and disperse. On this basis, the authors concluded that fruit morphology may represent a barrier to the absorption and transport of substances in guava fruit. Thus, liming is considered to be a more effective technique with long-lasting effects in terms of the maintenance of Ca content in fruits, which directly reflects on guava quality. In view of the lack of information about this topic in the literature, the objective of the present study was to assess the effect of application of increasing doses of lime to soil on the quality of first production guava fruit by monitoring the post-harvest physicochemical changes of the fruits.
2. Material and methods The trial was conducted at the Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, located at 384 km along the Brigadeiro Faria Lima highway (SP 326), 5 km from the Municipality of Bebedouro, SP, Brazil, 208530 1600 S latitude and 488280 1100 W longitude, at an altitude of 601 meters. According to the Ko¨ ppen classification, the local climate is of the subtropical Cwa type, with a short, moderate and dry winter and a warm and rainy summer characterizing two distinct seasons. The soil is Typical Hapludox. Before the trial was set up, 20 soil subsamples were collected to form the composite sample in layers of 0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm. Data concerning chemical analysis for the determination of fertility are presented in Table 1. The experimental design adopted was randomized blocks with five treatments and four replicates. Increasing lime doses were used for the treatments considering base saturation to be 70%, indicated as ideal for guava culture (Santos and Quaggio, 1996). The doses were calculated for a 0–30 cm layer as follows: D0 = zero lime, D1 = half the dose needed to increase V = 70%, D2 = dose needed to increase V = 70%, D3 = 1.5 times the dose needed to increased V = 70%, and D4 = twice the dose needed to increase V = 70%, corresponding to 0, 1.85, 3.79, 5.56 and 7.41 t ha1. The lime used in the experiment contained 455.5 g CaO per kg and 102.1 g MgO per kg; neutralizing power (PN) was 107%, reactivity (RE) was 94%, and total real neutralizing power (TRNP) was 100%. Lime was manually applied to the entire surface of the plot, half of it before incorporation with a stake plow and the other half applied and incorporated with a plowing grid. Lime incorporation was performed to a depth of 30 cm, applied in August 1999. The experimental plots consisted of five guava plants (cv. Paluma, propagated from herbaceous stakes), with the three central ones being considered as useful trees for evaluation. Spacing was 7 m between rows and 4.2 m between trees. Guava trees were
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Layer (cm)
pH CaCl2
Organic matter (g dm3)
P resin (mg dm3)
K+ (mmolcdm3)
Ca+2 (mmolcdm3)
Mg+2 (mmolcdm3)
(H + Al) (mmolcdm3)
SB (mmolcdm3)
T (mmolcdm3)
V value (%)
0–20 20–40 40–60
4.7 4.4 4.4
18 16 16
6 3 4
1.3 0.6 0.6
9 6 7
4 3 4
40 42 45
14.3 9.6 11.6
54.3 51.6 56.6
26 19 20
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Table 1 Chemical properties of the soil in the experimental area
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planted on December 12, 1999 and were submitted to irrigation. All plants received NPK throughout the year. Basic fertilization consisted of a mixture of 200 g P2O5, 20 L organic compost, 1.0 g B and 2.0 g Zn. Cover fertilization for the 1st and 2nd year consisted of 140 and 200 g N and 112 and 50 g K2O per tree, respectively. To assess the effect of liming on plant nutrition we determined leaf calcium content during full blooming by sampling leaves as indicated by Natale et al. (1996) for guava culture (third pair of newly ripened leaves with a petiole). Calcium concentration in leaves and fruits was determined by the method of extraction by nitric–perchloric acid. digestion and atom absorption spectrometry (Bataglia et al., 1983). Thirty fruits per plot were picked when they presented a firm texture and a rind color from green to mate, with yellow color starting to form at the base of the fruits (Garcia, 1978). This harvest refers to the 1st year of production of 2-year-old guava trees. After harvesting, the fruits were measured in terms of total weight, transverse diameter (axis perpendicular to the length in the middle part of the fruit), length (axis between the insertion of the peduncle and the petiole scar), pulp weight, % pulp, 8Brix, titratable acidity, and fruit ratio. Fresh mass loss, firmness and color of the fruits were also determined daily over a period of 8 days of storage. The fruits were stored at room temperature (25 5 8C). Total soluble solid content of the pulp (8Brix) was determined with a table refractometer (ATAGO-3T). For the determination of titratable acidity (g citric acid per 100 g pulp), 5 mL of pulp were titrated with 0.1N NaOH using three drops of phenolphthalein (10 g L1) as an indicator and the results were expressed as g citric acid equivalents in 100 mL of pulp (Tressler and Joslyn, 1961). Pulp firmness (N) was determined with the aid of a penetrometer (Model FDV-10) with a tip diameter of 5/16 in. The color of the rind was determined using a 1–5 subjective scale in which 1 = fully green, 2 = more green than yellow, 3 = equal portions of green and yellow, 4 = more yellow than green, and 5 = fully yellow (Silva and Vieites, 2000).
3. Results Considering the mean doses of lime, the results showed that the fruits stored for 8 days presented a linear increase in weight loss and reduction of fruit firmness during this period (Fig. 1). Liming did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits such as total weight, transverse diameter, length, pulp weight or % pulp, whereas it did significantly affect chemical characteristics such as titratable acidity, although with no effect on soluble solids (Table 2). Although liming increased plant nutrition with Ca (Fig. 2), it did not affect fruit growth, showing that the major role of Ca is not cell multiplication but restructuring and functioning of the membranes. According to Tobias et al. (1993), 60% of the total cellular calcium is located in the cell wall. Mikami et al. (2000) also did not observe a favorable effect of Ca and Mg application to the soil on mean guava fruit (cv. Paluma) weight. Evaluation of the effect of liming doses for each storage day showed a significant difference for fresh mass weight over the 8 days of storage; for firmness, the significant difference started on the 3rd day (Fig. 1) and for color it started between the 4th and 7th
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Fig. 1. Effect of days of storage on loss of weight and firmness of guava fruit (mean for the five lime doses).
days of storage (Table 3). These beneficial effects of liming on the post-harvest quality of guava fruits in terms of loss of fresh mass, firmness and color are explained by the known role of Ca in fruit quality, since liming supplied the element to the plants, as shown by its increase in leaves and fruits (Fig. 2). Thus, the presence of Ca in the fruits was positively correlated with the variables fresh mass loss and firmness, and the lowest weight loss and greatest fruit firmness were associated with Ca concentrations of 0.99 g kg1 (Fig. 3). Calcium application significantly reduced the loss of fresh mass during all days of storage, with the fruits of the control plots showing a 26.5% weight reduction by the last day of storage, as opposed to a 19.6% reduction obtained with the best liming treatment (Fig. 1). Considering 10–15% losses for commercialization to be acceptable (Dalal et al., 1971), it can be seen that the fruits could be marketed without great losses up to the 6th day of storage under ambient conditions for the treatment with liming and up to the 4th day for the control fruit not treated with liming. The results presented in Table 3 show the influence of lime application on the color of the fruit rind, starting on the 4th day of storage and lasting until the 7th day, with the control always presenting a greater evolution of the yellow color or greater degradation of the green pigments (chlorophyll). These results indicate the same behavior as described for the loss of fresh mass and firmness, with the liming treatments being the most effective in delaying the evolution of peel color.
4. Discussion Fruit firmness was significantly reduced from harvest time (day 0) to the 1st day of storage, probably due to the conditions of fruit storage at ambient temperature, whereas the reduction of firmness would be attenuated under refrigerated storage conditions. Thus, the fresh matter weight loss increased six-fold from the first to the 8th day of storage, whereas firmness suffered a five-fold reduction. At the end of storage (7th and 8th days), weight loss reached 18 and 22%, respectively. A similar result was obtained by Singh and Chauhan (1982) with guava (cv. L-49) cultivated in India, with an 18% weight
Lime dose (t ha1)
Fruit weight (g)
Transverse diameter (cm)
Fruit length (cm)
Pulp weight (g)
% Pulp
Soluble solids (g acid per 100 g)
0 1.85 3.79 5.56 7.41
143.4 151.0 130.6 134.6 135.6
6.6 6.6 6.3 6.4 6.4
6.6 6.8 6.4 6.4 6.5
95.4 103.2 88.6 87.3 90.1
66.5 68.3 67.8 64.8 66.4
7.6 7.8 7.5 7.0 7.4
Test F
1.3ns
1.7ns
1.2ns
1.5ns
2.6ns
3.2ns
DMSa
–
–
–
–
–
–
3.0
4.4
2.5
4.4
CV (%)
10.2
11.4
The values with letters (a and b) are significant at the 5% level of probability. a Tukey test (P < 0.05). ns Non significant. ** Significant at the 1% level of probability.
Titratable acidity (g acid per 100 g) 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5
a b b b b
11.4**
Ratio (g acid per 100 g) 11.3 16.1 16.4 15.4 16.6
b a a ab a
5.6**
0.1
4.2
11.7
12.2
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Table 2 Effects of liming on the physicochemical characteristics of guava fruits at harvesting time (Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, SP)
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Fig. 2. Effect of lime application to guava trees on leaf calcium content at full flowering time and on fruit pulp calcium content.
loss after 8 days of storage at room temperature. However, Adsule and Tondon (1983) observed that the loss of guava (cv. Allahabad) fresh mass weight reached 30%. These differences occur due to the variation in climatic conditions and in the cultivars used by the authors. This positive correlation between weight loss and days of storage was also observed in other fruit such as grapes (Castro et al., 1999). It should also be pointed out that, even though the weight loss observed in the present study suggested linearity along the storage period, we cannot state that this phenomenon would continue after 8 days of storage. The phenomenon of reduced firmness or softening of the fruits has been interpreted as a change in the pectic materials that cement the cell wall and is characterized by the solubilization of pectic substances of the middle lamella (Roe and Bruemmer, 1981), which occurs in an orderly manner. At first there is relaxation of the cell wall and hemicellulose degradation and at the end there is pectin depolymerization (Huber et al., 2001), with the process being intensified when the fruits are stored at room temperature. It should also be pointed out that, although liming did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits such as fruit mean weight, it increased the production of fruits per guava plantation hectare since there was a significant effect of liming on guava fruit production: y (t fruits ha1) = 14.377 + 0.5337 (t lime ha1), R2 = 0.73**). This increased production due to liming in acid soil does not occur only because of the increase in Ca levels available in soil, but also because of the increase in basic cation levels (Ca, Mg and K), the neutralization of toxic effects such as those of Al and Mn, and because of the increased activity of the soil microbiota (Brady, 1989). Taken together, these effects increase the growth of the root system of guava trees (Prado and Natale, 2004), with consequent better development and production of fruits. It should also be added that the effect of lime on the soil–plant system does not occur on a short-term basis, in contrast to the use of chalk, in view of the greater solubility of the latter (Ririe et al., 1952). Liming significantly reduced titratable acidity and increased the soluble solid/titratable acidity ratio. This increase in ratio from 11.3 to 16.6 can be explained by the reduction in acidity, indicating that the application of lime to guava trees resulted in sweeter fruits. However, the technique of Ca application to the fruits does not alter their general chemical
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Table 3 Effect of liming on the colora of guava fruits during storage (Experimental Citrus Culture Station of Bebedouro, SP) Lime dose (t ha1)
Days of storage 0
1
2
0 1.85 3.79 5.56 7.41
1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3
1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3
3.0 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.0
3.7 3.0 2.7 2.3 2.3
Test F
0.0ns
0.0ns
2.7ns
4.0*
CV (%)
0.0
0.0
16.1
3
17.2
4 a b b b b
4.0 3.3 3.3 3.3 2.7
5 a ab ab ab b
5.7* 10.2
4.7 4.3 4.0 4.0 2.7
6 a a ab ab b
6.1* 13.5
5.0 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.0
7 a ab ab ab b
5.0 5.0 4.3 4.3 4.0
8 a a ab ab b
5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.7
4.0*
6.0*
1.0ns
7.2
7.0
5.2
The values with letters (a and b) are significant at the 5% level of probability. a Color was scored as follows: 1, fully green; 2, more green than yellow; 3, green and yellow in equal parts; 4, more yellow than green; and 5, fully yellow. ns Non significant. * Significant at the 5% level of probability.
characteristics (Amen, 1987) or the ratio (Giannoni, 2000) in a significant manner. This higher acidity in the control treatment with no liming may have occurred as a function of the greater degradation of ascorbic acid (Khedkar et al., 1982) or even due to the effect of higher ascorbic acid concentrations in the fruits owing to the greater loss of moisture (Adsule and Tondon, 1983) in these plants that did not receive the application of a Ca source. It can also be seen that the differences between the control and the best liming treatment increased with days of storage, ranging from 1.4 to 6.9%, showing that the beneficial effects of liming for post-harvest preservation increased with period of storage. Since no field studies are available in the literature for comparison with the present results, we will discuss those that report calcium application to the fruits. Some of these studies have reported no significant effect of Ca on the fruit in terms of reduction of fresh mass
Fig. 3. Relationship between calcium content of the fruit pulp and loss of weight and firmness of guava fruits after 8 days of storage at room temperature.
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(Carvalho et al., 1998; Lima, 1999) or even a negative effect, with increased Ca concentration in the solution, especially after a longer period of storage (after the 6th day) (Giannoni, 2000). There are also other reports showing that treatment by calcium application to the fruits caused a significant difference in relation to the control reaching up to 2% for cv. Sardar (Singh et al., 1984), 0.2% for cv. Kumagai (Giannoni, 2000), less than 4% for cv. Rica, and less than 1% for cv. Paluma (Tavares, 1993). With respect to the effect of liming dose on fruit firmness, this variable was significantly increased starting on the 2nd day of storage (Fig. 1). Thus, these effects of lime application causing greater fruit firmness can be explained, as mentioned earlier, by the role of Ca in the rigidity of rind tissues and consequently in the reduction of water loss from the fruit and even in the reduction of respiratory rate, protein degradation and the occurrence of opportunistic microorganisms (Bangerth et al., 1972). It should be pointed out that this reduction in fruit firmness with storage reflects the statement made by Chitarra and Chitarra (1994) who reported that firmness (or texture) is closely related to the solubilization of pectic substances, with conversion of insoluble pectin to soluble pectin causing fruit softening and reduced resistance. Giannoni (2000) did not observe a positive response to treatment with Ca application to the fruit in terms of fruit firmness. When post-harvesting handling is involved, firmness is essential because firmer fruits are more resistant to mechanical injury during transport and marketing.
5. Conclusions The application of lime to an acid Red Latossol before guava tree planting did not affect the physical characteristics of the fruits but produced a lower loss of fresh matter weight and a greater fruit firmness, when the fruits presented Ca levels close to 0.99 g kg1. It is important to conduct further studies on the effect of liming on the quality of guava fruit under different edaphic-climatic conditions and using different guava tree genotypes.
Acknowledgments We are grateful to FAPESP – Fundac¸a˜ o de Amparo a` Pesquisa do Estado de Sa˜ o Paulo, Brazil, for granting a fellowship to the senior author (Proc. 00/00758-0).
References Adsule, P.G., Tondon, D.K., 1983. The assessment of L.D.P.E. bags for enhancing shelf life of guava. Indian Food Packer 37, 82–87. Amen, K.I.A., 1987. Effect of post-harvest calcium treatments on the storage life of guava fruits. Assiut. J. Agric. Sci. 18, 127–131. Bangerth, F., Dilley, D.R., Dewey, D.H., 1972. Effects of post-harvest calcium treatments on internal breakdown and respiration of apple fruits. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 97, 679–682.
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