Türkiye, ılıman ve subtropik meyve türlerinin yetiştiriciliği açısından potansiyel öneme sahiptir. Küresel ısınmanın da etkisi ile son yıllarda tropik türlerinin yetiştiriciliğine ve tüketimine olan ilgi de artmaya başlamıştır. Batı Akdeniz Tarımsal Araştırma Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü, Akdeniz Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi ve Antalya İl Tarım ve Orman Müdürlüğü ortaklığı ile yürütülen “Değişik Tropik Meyve Türlerinin Antalya Koşullarına Adaptasyonu Üzerinde Araştırmalar” konulu proje kapsamında, passiflora, pitaya, guava, longan, litchi ve mango türlerine ait çeşitler, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri’nden ithal edilmiştir. Proje sonucunda, Gazipaşa ilçesi Macar ve Yakacık lokasyonlarında mikroklima alanlarda tüm türlerin adapte olduğu saptanmıştır. Adaptasyon açısından, passiflora, guava, pitaya, longan, litchi ve mango; damak tadına uygunluk açısından mango ve litchi, meyve rengi, görünüm ve pazarlanabilirlik açısından ise pitaya ön plana çıkmıştır. Guava adaptasyonunun iyi olmasına rağmen raf ömrü ve tat açısından tercih edilebilir bulunmamıştır. Adapte olan türler ile ilgili günümüze kadar ülkemizde çoğaltma yöntemleri, döllenme biyolojisi ve kısıntılı sulama, suptropik iklim koşullarında açıkta ve örtüaltında yetiştiricilik, değişik terbiye sistemlerinin verim ve kalite üzerine etkileri gibi değişik konularda çalışmalar yapılmıştır. Bu makalede, Türkiye’de yetiştirilen tropik türleri ile ilgili, günümüze kadar geçen süreçte, adaptasyon çalışmalarının sonuçları ve adapte olan türler ile ilgili günümüze kadar yapılan çalışmalara değinilmiştir.

Objective: In this study, the effect of interspecific and intraspecific hybridization on seed germination of pitaya was investigated. Material and Methods: Self-infertile 'Bloody Mary' (Hylocereus polyrhizus) was used as the maternal parent and 'Cosmic Charlie' (Hylocereus undatus), 'Red Jaina' (Hylocereus polyrhizus) and 'White Jaina' (Hylocereus undatus) were used as pollinators in this study. Flowers were pollinated at three different times (10: 00 pm, 00: 00 am, and 06.00 am). After pollination, seeds from each pollination combination were sown. The germination rate, average germination time, germination energy and germination index of the sown seeds were determined depending on pollination time and pollinator cultivars. Results: The research findings indicated that the germination rate was 100% in all seed sowing combinations, depending on different pollinator cultivars ('Cosmic Charlie' and 'White Jaina' are in different species from the maternal parent) and pollination times. The results revealed that interspecific hybridization did not have a negative effect on seed germination. On the other hand, germination time, germination energy and index differed as per pollinator type and pollination hours. Conclusion: According to the findings, it was concluded that interspecific hybridization in pitaya does not have problem in seed germination and results might offer an infrastructure for future breeding programme in pitaya.

Bananas have been grown in both open-field and protected cultivation in the subtropics. There are a very limited number of publications focusing on the impact of cultivation systems on the physico-chemical characteristics of bananas. For this reason, we assessed these fruit characteristics including sugars, malic acid, L-ascorbic acid, macro and micro nutrients well as fat and fatty acids of green and ripe bananas (Musa spp. AAA) in both cultivation systems. Experimental results have showed that many parameters affected the fruit ripening stage more than the cultivation system. Sucrose was the most abundant sugar followed by fructose and glucose in both the unripe and the ripe fruit stages. Sugar content, malic acid and L-ascorbic acid were higher in the ripe stage compared to the green stage. The cultivation system affected only glucose content, however, malic acid and L-ascorbic acid were not affected by the cultivation system. The most abundant macro and micro elements found were potassium and iron respectively. Cultivation system affected only potassium, zinc and manganese contents. Nitrogen and phosphorous, were found to be higher in the ripe stage. However, calcium, zinc, manganese and cupper were higher in the unripe stage. The fatty acid showed low value in the unripe stage for both cultivation systems. The concentration of MUFAs were found to be higher in the unripe stage for open-field condition while SFAs and PUFAs percentage were found to be higher in both cultivation systems. Experimental results clearly showed that physico-chemical characteristics of bananas were mainly affected by the ripening stage while the cultivation systems only affected a few characteristics.