Causes of fruit cracking in the era of climate change. A review

Abstract

The objective of this review was to report on advances in environmental, cultural, and physiological aspects of fleshy fruit cracking to reduce or avoid this disorder, which affects many fruit species. Cracking is a physiological disorder that limits the production and quality of fleshy fruits because it affects the exocarp and mesocarp, especially with climate change and variability. Fruit cracking is generated by external factors (agronomic and environmental) and internal factors, several of which require exhaustive study. The incidence of cracking varies widely according to climatic characteristics during fruit development, different fruit species and varieties, growth sites, and crop management. This physiological disorder is aggravated by increases in rain intensity, especially after a dry season or in areas with increased temperatures. Knowledge on causes of cracking has generated management strategies that involve genetic improvement, ecophysiological conditions, agronomic practices such as pruning, irrigation, and fertilization (mainly with Ca, Mg, B, and K), applications of plant growth regulators, and use of plastic covers, etc. For several fruit trees, these strategies are effective, but in species such as the cape gooseberry, cracking remains without a full explanation or effective management.

Altitude as a determinant of fruit quality with emphasis on the Andean tropics of Colombia. A review.

“…On clear nights, the surface of the outer tissues of plants and fruits cool below air temperature because of heat exchange, leading to damage to cell membranes and intracellular compartments (Voronkov et al, 2019). In addition, sudden changes in temperature between day and night at altitudes can generate physiological disorders, such as fruit cracking (Fischer, Balaguera-López & Álvarez-Herrera, 2021), as reported by Miranda (2020) for sweet granadilla.…”

“…Direct solar radiation increases not only the temperature but also evapotranspiration through the fruit surface, causing an accelerated loss of moisture and increasing susceptibility to fruit cracking (Ikram et al, 2020;Fischer, Balaguera-López & Álvarez-Herrera, 2021). For example, in the case of Japanese plums (Prunus salicina), excessive radiation manifests itself as a brown to yellow discoloration on the surface of the fruits, which, in severe cases, can result in necrotic spots and cracking of the fruit epidermis (Makeredza et al, 2018).…”

The fruit peel anatomy, leaf nutrient content, and fruit quality of ‘Terigas’ mandarin in relation to fruit cracking

“…Nevertheless, this finding was opposite to Kaur et al (2019) who mentioned that cracked fruit peel of lemon produced larger oil glands size (813.33 mm 2 ) as compared to peel of uncracked fruit (684.03 mm 2 ). Moreover, Fischer et al (2021) mentioned that crop management, fruit development stage, and season may also affect the anatomy and the composition of citrus peel. It seems that the bigger size of oil glans tends to reduce the density of oil glands that may increase cracking resistance.…”

Factors influencing fruit cracking: an environmental and agronomic perspective

“…On the other hand, calcium deficiency has been identified to be one of the main causes of fruit cracking in grape (Yu et al, 2020), lemons (Citrus limon L. (Osbeck)) (Devi et al, 2018), litchis (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) (Martıńez Bolaños et al, 2017), pomegranates (Davarpanah et al, 2018), and many other fruit crops (Khadivi-Khub, 2015;Fischer et al, 2021).…”