Chemical quality attributes of mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) as affected by altitude and fruit bearing position in Kavre, Nepal

Abstract

Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) occupies a prominent position in the total fruit sector of Nepal. A study was conducted to assess chemical quality parameters of mandarin in Kavre district of Nepal, during February 2018. Three altitudes (1410, 1540 and 1670 m.asl) and four bearing positions of fruits (East, West, North, and South) in each tree were taken, from southern facing slope of local mandarin orchard under normal farmer managed practices. Fruits from each sector were scored for TSS, pH, TA and ascorbic acid content. The result showed that the TSS (14.6 o Brix), pH (3.37), and TA (0.06%) were recorded higher in the mandarin harvested at an altitude of 1410 m.asl. TSS/TA (23.81) and ascorbic acid content (35.96 mg/100g) were recorded highest in mandarin fruit harvested from 1670 m.asl altitude. Similarly, TSS/TA (21.13) was recorded higher in mandarin on eastern canopy of tree. TA (0.91%) and ascorbic acid content (37.54 mg/100g) were recorded higher in mandarin fruit harvested from western canopy. TSS (15.0 o Brix) and pH (3.41) were highest in mandarin of southern canopy. The combined effect of altitude and fruit bearing position had significant effect on pH (P = 0.008), TA (P=0.012), TSS/TA (P = 0.014) and ascorbic acid content (P<0.001). Mandarins at southern bearing position located at 1540 m.asl and lower altitude were comparatively of good quality than of the upper altitude. Since the main chemical attributes for maintaining quality of mandarin, mandarin located at an altitude of 1540 m.asl followed by mandarin located at 1410 m.asl were promising than mandarin of higher altitude.

Nondestructive Assessment of Citrus Fruit Quality and Ripening by Visible–Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

“…However, all QA vary greatly inside the same orchard, either in terms of absolute values and/or in terms of spatial and temporal distribution, and even in the same tree. This has been shown in citrus orchards of 'Shiranuhi' mandarin (C. unshiu  C. sinensis)  C. reticulata [17], 'Ortanique' (Citrus reticulata Blanco x Citrus sinensis (L) Osbeck) [18], mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) [19], and 'Newhall' and 'Valencia Late' orange [20]. Multiple factors, such as the level of sunlight exposure and the associated fruit temperature on the tree, fruit yield and size, tree vigor and age, rootstocks, site-specific nutritional requirements and micro topographies within the orchard, are reportedly associated to this variability [21][22][23][24].…”

Effect of exogenous essential oil treatments on the storage behaviour of apricot fruit harvested at different altitudes

“…Overall, the altitude at which fruit are grown can have a significant impact on their biochemical content. The specific effects of altitude on fruit composition can depend on the specific fruit and environmental conditions (Timilsina and Tripathi, 2019;Gouvinhas et al, 2020).…”

Quality attributes during maturation of ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Red Delicious’ apples grown in two geographical regions with different environmental conditions

“…Apple quality characteristics may be affected by factors such as environmental conditions (Dal Cin et al, 2007;Timilsina and Tripathi, 2019), which may also modify the blooming time and maturation rate of the fruit (Dhanaraj et al, 1986;Guédon and Legave, 2008). Among the environmental characteristics that can vary between WA and CHIH include temperature, solar radiation, and photoperiod, which are defined in part by the altitude and latitude of the zones (Drogoudi and Pantelidis, 2011;Jin et al, 2017;Alessandrini et al, 2019;Timilsina and Tripathi, 2019).…”

“…According to Faniadis et al (2010), cherries of the highest elevations have better quality compared to those cultivated in the lowest elevations (Danesin et al, 2004;Dal Cin et al, 2007). According to Timilsina and Tripathi (2019), lower acidity is observed on mandarins (Citrus reticulata Blanco) as the elevation increased. Also, some studies report that elevation has a marked influence on the aroma production of grapes (Jiang et al, 2013;Xu et al, 2015;Alessandrini et al, 2019).…”

“…Altitude may also influence apple acidity. According to Timilsina and Tripathi (2019), titratable acidity lowers on mandarins as elevation increases. The present work shows how acidity was lower in the highest altitude area, CHIH (2062 masl) (Figure 1).…”