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Titre : Physico-Chemical Changes during Growth, Development and Ripening of Introduced Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Fruit Cultivars in Sudan

Auteur : Hala Ahmed Abdalla Ahmed

Université de soutenance : University of Khartoum

Grade : Master of Science in Horticulture. 2019

Résumé partiel
The aim of this study was to evaluate the physico chemical changes during growth, development and ripening of ‘Barhee’ and ‘Fard’ introduced date cultivars in Sudan, to provide base-line information regarding the biochemistry of the developing and ripening fruit, to assist in determining harvest maturity of date fruits and development of sound program for controlling date fruit ripening. Twelve palm trees were selected from each cultivar in the Horticultural Department orchard, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum at Shambat, Khartoum North. Tow experiments were carried out. In the first experiment, fruit samples were harvested at different stages of growth and development. The first sample was picked eight weeks after pollination (on April), and sampling continued every two weeks up to the physiological maturity (6 samples). Sixty to one hundred fruits (15-25 fruits per replication) from each cultivar of uniform size were picked at the designated stage, washed, air dried and arranged in a completely randomize design with four replications. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at P ≤ 0.05 significant level was performed on the data, and the means were compared using LSD procedure computations by Microsoft Office Excel 2016. Physical and chemical changes were determined using standard methods. The fruits of both cultivars followed a typical sigmoid curve. Fruit fresh weight, volume, length, diameter and pulp/seed ratio progressively increased from 8 weeks after pollination (WAP) up to 16 WAP, at physiological maturity, and then remained constant. Fresh weight increased from 2.5 g and 2.9 g at 8 WAP to 9.7 g and 10.3 g at physiological maturity (16 WAP) in ‘Barhee’ and ‘Fard’ cultivars, respectively, and then remained constant. Fruit peel color score steadily increased from 1.0 (green) at 8 WAP in the two cultivars to 4.2 and 4.0 (75 % yellow) after 16 WAP in ‘Barhee’ and ‘Fard’ cultivars, respectively. Respiration rate steadily decreased from 25.6 and 23.7 mg CO₂/kg-hr at 8 WAP to 10.7 and 9.2 mg CO₂/kg hr at 18 WAP in ‘Barhee’ and ‘Fard’ cultivars, respectively. Dry matter content and total sugars increased with advancement in growth and development.

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