No abstract

Strawberry fruit quality traits can be affected by genotype–environment interactions, determining the final consumer acceptance of fruits. Trait stability under varying environments is necessary to ensure the fruit quality of strawberries selected by breeding programs. Hence, inter- and intra-annual variation of organoleptic and functional fruit quality parameters of five strawberry varieties throughout four consecutive cropping seasons was analyzed to assess their relative stability. In most varieties, organoleptic parameters showed higher inter-annual stability but greater variability throughout the season, while the reverse was true for the functional quality parameters. Relative humidity and mean and minimum temperatures partially accounted for fruit quality variation but other factors along with the genotype may also have an influence. Among the varieties, ‘Splendor’ displayed greater year-on-year stability in organoleptic parameters, and ‘Sabrina’ and Candonga® showed higher inter- and intra-annual stability on functional fruit quality, respectively. Environmental variation did not affect fruit quality parameters similarly in all strawberry varieties. In ‘Sabrina’ and Candonga® antioxidant capacity (TEAC) was greater and stable throughout the cropping season, underlining TEAC as a tool for varietal selection, and suggesting these two varieties as parents for breeding programs that seek healthy features and high-quality fruits that meet consumer demands.

Four rectangular sluice gatcs were calibrated for sLlbniergcd-tiow conditions using nearly 16.000 field-measured data points on Canal B of the B-XIl irrigation scheme in Lebrija, Spain. Water depth and gate opening values were measured using acoustic sensors at each of the gate structures, and the data were recorded oil data loggers. Several gate calibration equations were tested and it was found that the rectangular sluice gates can he used for accurate flow measurement. The Energy-Momentum (E-M) equations proved to he sound. The calibration of the contraction coefficient. 10 he used in the energy equation. allowed good estimations of the discharge for three of the four g ates studied. The gate for which the E-M method did not perform satisfactorily was located at the head of the canal with a unique nonsyinnietric approach flow condition. Alternatively, we investigated the performance of the conventional discharge equation. The variation of the discharge coefficient, C,, with the head differential. ./i. and the vertical gate opening. c. suggests that C, he expressed as a function of these two variables. For the sluice gates considered in this study, the best empirical fit was obtained by expressing Cd as a parabolic function of w. although an exponential expression tested previously by other writers also produced satisfactory results. The greatest uncertainty in the variables considered in this study was in the calculated coefficient of discharge, and based on the uncertainty anal y sis, it is possible to quantify the uncertainty in the estimated discharge through a calibrated sluice gate. The discharge uncertainty in each of the four gates in this study decreases with increasing gate opening, and it decreases slightly with increasing head differentials.