Abscisic Acid Application Timing and Concentration Affect Firmness, Pigmentation, and Color of `Flame Seedless' Grapes

Abstract

<jats:p>Poor coloration of red grapes grown in warm regions is a frequent problem that decreases production efficiency. Most table grape growers use ethephon to improve color, but its influence on color development is erratic, and it may reduce berry firmness. Application of S-abscisic acid (ABA) to grapes can increase the anthocyanins in their skins, but no protocols have been established regarding its potential commercial use. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of ABA and ethephon treatments on fruit quality characteristics, including those related to firmness and color, on `Flame Seedless' grapes (<jats:italic>Vitis vinifera</jats:italic> L.) in several experiments over three consecutive seasons. Abscisic acid had few effects on berry weight or juice composition, but it increased berry softening and skin anthocyanin concentrations. The effect of ABA on berry firmness was similar to ethephon. With respect to skin anthocyanin concentration and fruit color characteristics, 300 mg·L<jats:sup>–1</jats:sup> ABA applied at veraison was superior to the other ABA concentrations and to ethephon applied at any of the times tested. Moreover, any concentration of ABA between 75 and 300 mg·L<jats:sup>–1</jats:sup> applied after veraison improved color better than ethephon applied at the same time. There was a highly significant inverse curvilinear relationship between skin anthocyanin concentration and the lightness and hue of the berries. Anthocyanin concentrations between 0.01 and 0.04 mg·cm<jats:sup>–2</jats:sup> had little effect on berry lightness and hue, so researchers should consider measuring color, not just anthocyanins, when evaluating the quality of red table grapes.</jats:p>

Effects of light emitting diode irradiation at night on abscisic acid metabolism and anthocyanin synthesis in grapes in different growing seasons

“…Red or blue-LED leaf treatment: red (L), blue (L) may be associated with the increase in endogenous ABA concentrations in grapes. ABA application enhanced anthocyanin accumulation in grapes (Peppi et al 2006). However, the endogenous ABA concentrations after veraison and the anthocyanin concentrations during maturation in the skin did not always coincide in Exp.…”

Impact of temperature and sunlight on the skin coloration of the ‘Kyoho’ table grape

“…It is thought that ABA is a key hormone for the coloration of grapes. In grapes, exogenous ABA stimulates skin coloration (Kataoka et al, 1982;Peppi et al, 2006) and anthocyanin synthesis in grape cell cultures (Gagne et al, 2010). ABA accumulation in the berry during ripening takes place in two ways; ABA is synthesized in the berry itself (Coombe, 1976) and also transferred from the leaves to the bunch via the phloem (Mullins et al, 1992;Shiozaki et al, 1999).…”

Water deficit and exogenous ABA significantly affect grape and wine phenolic composition under in field and in-vitro conditions

“…Very few studies of ABA effects of grape composition are available (Jeong et al 2004;Jiang and Joyce 2003;Peppi et al 2006). It has to be pointed out that, to our awareness, no report of the effect of combined ABA and water stress treatments can be found in literature.…”