Effect of climatic conditions on some physicochemical and physiological characteristics of the plum fruits Horvin variety growth

Abstract

Contextualization: Climatic conditions are determining factors of fruits quality at the time of harvesting and are defined by the physicochemical and physiological characteristics of the fruit. Knowledge gap: knowing the relationship between different variables that can affect the production of the Horvin plum variety. Purpose: To observe the effect of climatic conditions on some physicochemical and physiological characteristics of plum fruits Horvin variety from its set to harvest. Methodology: Thermo-hygrometers were installed in each location placed at four different altitudes in order to obtain the temperature and relative humidity during the observation period. Moreover, the precipitation was measured with pluviometers installed at each location. The fruits were removed from different branches of the middle part of the trees on each of the study days. Results and conclusions: Climatic conditions greatly influenced the growth and development of plum fruit. Changes in weight and size were observed from harvest to harvest in the four locations studied. It was observed that the climatic conditions of the first harvest, especially the temperature, and precipitation, were affected by the El Niño phenomenon. Thus, a difference was reached between the average temperature of 6 °C each month. In addition, there was a difference of 19 °C between the coldest and warmest months, respectively, with average annual precipitation values of 907.2mm concentrated from July to November. For the second harvest, the temperature decreased, and there was more precipitation in the zone with an average temperature of 7 °C, and an average maximum temperature of 22 °C each month with average annual precipitation values of 1100mm concentrated from April to July.