Peco, J.D.; Rapoport, H.F.; Centeno, A.; Pérez-López, D. Does Regulated Deficit Irrigation Affect Pear Fruit Texture by Modifying the Stone Cells? Plants2023, 12, 4024.
Peco, J.D.; Rapoport, H.F.; Centeno, A.; Pérez-López, D. Does Regulated Deficit Irrigation Affect Pear Fruit Texture by Modifying the Stone Cells? Plants 2023, 12, 4024.
Peco, J.D.; Rapoport, H.F.; Centeno, A.; Pérez-López, D. Does Regulated Deficit Irrigation Affect Pear Fruit Texture by Modifying the Stone Cells? Plants2023, 12, 4024.
Peco, J.D.; Rapoport, H.F.; Centeno, A.; Pérez-López, D. Does Regulated Deficit Irrigation Affect Pear Fruit Texture by Modifying the Stone Cells? Plants 2023, 12, 4024.
Abstract
Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategies aim to improve water usage without reducing yield. Generally, irrigation strategy effectiveness is measured as fruit yield, with little consideration of fruit quality. As water deficit and increased plant cell sclerification often associated, this study explores the effect of RDI on pear fruit stone cells, a crucial factor affecting flesh texture. The presence, distribution and development of pear fruit stone cells under RDI and full irrigation are compared using Pyrus communis L. cv. Barlett trees, employing recently developed microscope image analysis technology. The Control treatment was maintained under non-stress conditions, while the RDI treatment received an average of 15% of Control water during the latter part of Stage I fruit development. Observations at the end of Stage I and at harvest showed no effect on stone cell presence under the tested RDI strategy. Relative area of stone cells within the flesh was greater at Stage I than at harvest, as stone cell expansion occurred early in development while the (unsclerified) parenchyma cells, dominant component of the fruit flesh, expanded until harvest. Stone cell cluster density was higher near the fruit core than in the cortex center and exterior. These initial results suggest that well-planned RDI strategies will generally not affect pear fruit stone cell content and thus, textural quality. Microscope image analysis supported results from previously used analytical techniques, principally chemical, while providing a tool for better understanding the process and timing of stone cell differentiation and thus testing the factors involved.
Keywords
Pyrus communis; pear; regulated deficit irrigation; stone cells; fruit quality
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Anatomy and Physiology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
