Characterization of generative development in early maturing litchi ‘Early Big’, a novel cultivar in Taiwan

Abstract

-Introduction.A short harvest window is common in litchi production worldwide, leading to imbalance between supply and demand for fresh fruit. This problem can be mitigated with early-maturing cultivars, such as 'Early Big', released in 2010 in Taiwan. Our goal was to characterize the generative development in this novel litchi cultivar. Materials and methods. The patterns of female flowering and fruit development, and fruit abscission were investigated in 'Early Big' litchi in 2013 and 2014. The relationship between the second round (2 nd R) blooming and the first round (1 st R) fruit was studied. The ambient temperature in both years was recorded. Results and discussion. 2-3 weeks after full female bloom (AFFB) the 2 nd R flowering occurred, followed by fruit abscission with loss of 95% fruit within 4 weeks AFFB in 'Early Big' litchi, resulting in low yield at harvest. The 2 nd R blooming was negatively correlated with the 1 st R fruit retention rate from week 4 AFFB in 2013. Overall, the period of low temperature from November through to the following March was longer in 2013/2014 than in 2012/2013. The trait of early maturing in 'Early Big' is mainly due to early flowering. Temperature may be related to the generative development in 'Early Big'. The accumulation of low temperature in early spring may be related to poor initial fruit set. Conclusion. The presence of 2 nd R flowering also potentially reduced the 1 st R fruit set and retention. These issues must be addressed to develop field strategies to improve yield in 'Early Big' litchi.

Genetic Variability, Correlation and Path-Coefficient Studies in Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) for Plant Growth, Panicle and Yield Attributes

“…The prevailing temperature as well as phenol content and age of plants significantly affect flowering. The success of fruit set depends on male parents (Lal et al, 2019a,b), time of pollination (Lal et al, 2021a) and poor fruit retention is due to fruit drop (Chang et al, 2015). Litchi is a good source of vitamin C (Marboh et al, 2019).…”

Assessment of Fruit Drop in Different Cultivars of Litchi

“…The initial drop comprised mostly of un-pollinated flowers as the lifespan of individual litchi flowers were very short and many flowers were apparently not pollinated during their receptive period. Chang et al (2015) also reported massive fruit drop in litchi. Mehdi et al (2007) also found that improper pollination and fertilization caused heavy fruit drop, small proportion (0.1-0.25%) set fruit and reached maturity.…”

“…Litchi starts flowering during February-March in Bihar conditions, and the intensity of flowering depends on temperature during floral bud differentiation, previous years fruiting and phenol content and age of plants (Lal et al, 2019a;. A single panicle can produce hundreds of flowers (M1 flowers, Female flowers and M2 flowers) and the success of fruit set depends on the pollen grain received from male parents (Lal et al, 2019b) and poor fruit retention due to fruit drop (Chang et al, 2015). The litchi fruit consists of about 55-85% pulp, 6-27% seed and 10-28% peel which varies depending upon cultivar and climatic conditions.…”

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SEEDS AND REPRODUCTIVE ASPECTS OF Paullinia stellata Radlk

“…What remains to be seen is how much this interferes with the physiological quality of the seeds. Chang et al (2015) report late ripening fruits may have smaller seeds and a higher proportion of wrinkled seeds. Other reports highlight wrinkling caused by embryo abortion resulting from stenospermocarpy (Huang and Qiu, 1987) and in addition to liquid endosperm collapse and competition for nutrients between the pulp and embryo (Lee and Chang, 2014).…”