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Factors controlling the accumulation of limonin and soluble constituents within orange fruits
Author(s) -
Chandler Bruce V.,
Nicol Kenneth J.,
Von Biedermann Christina
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740270912
Subject(s) - limonin , rootstock , orange (colour) , citrus paradisi , horticulture , chemistry , botany , orchard , rutaceae , food science , biology
A study was made of the differences in the quality and chemical constituents of the juice and albedo from Washington Navel and Valencia Late oranges grown at one orchard location on trifoliata orange and rough lemon rootstocks and harvested over a period of 40 weeks. Variety was the most significant factor in determining limonin contents, with rootstock an important subsidiary factor. Although limonin contents decreased absolutely as the season progressed, the maturity factor was important only in fruit of high initial limonin content. Differences in limonin contents were due to greater accumulation of limonin during fruit development and not to more rapid disappearance of limonin as the season progressed. An unknown factor controlled the distribution of limonin and soluble solids within the fruit, leading to the accumulation of these constituents in the blossom end. This “distribution factor” was so important that the differences in the limonin contents of albedo from the two halves of the same fruit were greater than the differences arising from the rootstock factor. For both limonin and soluble solids contents, the distribution factor operated uniformly throughout the season, irrespective of variety or rootstock. There was a direct relation between the chemical compositions of fruits picked at the same time from trees grown on different rootstocks, suggesting that relatively few picks could provide a basis for comparison of rootstock/scion combinations. The fact that such relations held irrespective of variety indicates an environmental effect on chemical composition which overrides varietal differences, whereas differences in variety and rootstock were more important in determining the physical characteristics of the fruit. Besides providing a basis for selecting fruit to give juice of optimum quality, these findings carry at least equal importance for the new light they throw on the physiological origins of variations in fruit quality.