Morphological characterization of the red dragon fruit - Selenicereus undatus (Haw.) D.R. Hunt – under growing conditions in the municipality of San Jerónimo (Antioquia, Colombia)

Abstract

The red dragon fruit Selenicereus undatus is a native fruit from the Americas. Its growing appeal in the international market as an exotic fruit highlights the relevance of the crop for the local economies. In Colombia, the high diversity within the genus and species makes it difficult to have reliable materials for propagation as cultivars. This agronomic challenge requires more studies of the distribution and real diversity within the genus Selenicereus sp. Due to the information aforementioned, the fruit is harvested in small localities as an extraction production system. This project aimed to morphologically characterize the working collection of red dragon fruit under growing conditions in the Municipality of San Jerónimo. It contained 30 accessions from the departments of Antioquia, Córdoba, and Valle del Cauca. Twenty-one characters of cladode, flower, and fruit were quantified to assess the diversity, and a restricted cluster analysis was performed to understand the morphological richness of the materials. As a result, it was observed differences in terms of stems, such as distance between areolas and width of cladode. This was also observed in flowers, in which their total length, the width of petals, the presence of trichomes, the color of calyx and petals, and the color of the stigma were different. Also, differences were recorded in the fruit. Characteristics such as weight and color of its skin were assessed, resulting in fruit size medium to small. Regarding other properties, total soluble solids varied between 11.2 to 15.6 °Brix. 55% of the fruits have measurements that fit market requirements. Finally, three accessions match the requirements of weight and °Brix, to be used as possible genotypes by commercial growers; however, studies about agronomic management strategies that favor an increase in fruit weight must be done.

Distinguishing three Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.) species grown in Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India using morphological, biochemical and molecular traits

“…Total soluble solids, being the most desirable character in view of consumers' preference, measured as °Brix, which can be affected by a set of factors such as genetic, climatic, soil, management, among others [27][28][29] . In the present study, the TSS ranged between 9.1 to 18.3 o B representing better fruit quality which evidenced by the earlier report that the TSS values between 11 to 15 o B have good market preference 30 .…”

Phenotypic Diversity of Morphological Characteristics of Pitahaya (Selenicereus Megalanthus Haw.) Germplasm in Colombia

“…In this study, the genotypes showed the shape of margin between areolas between concave and right, contrary to that reported in other studies on different species of Hylocereus, where the predominant forms were convex, with the presence of wax [8]. The cladode width and distance between areoles corresponded well with earlier studies from México [23], India [8], Puerto Rico and Colombia [6,[18][19][20].…”

“…The morphological characteristics of these genotypes have yet to be elucidated [19]. Colombia has developed vastly with the cultivation of several dragon fruit genotypes but the morphological characteristics and adaptation to different altitudes have not been clearly studied [18]. Morphological and agronomic characteristics can be used to measure genetic diversity in a particular individual population.…”

“…Despite the productive potential, a limiting factor in the development of this crop in Colombia is the incidence of pest and diseases, low fruit quality, the technological level, the associativity and the lack of cultivated material, generating significant losses in yield [18,19]. Different research institutions and universities have tried to find a solution to these problems [14,18].…”

“…Despite the productive potential, a limiting factor in the development of this crop in Colombia is the incidence of pest and diseases, low fruit quality, the technological level, the associativity and the lack of cultivated material, generating significant losses in yield [18,19]. Different research institutions and universities have tried to find a solution to these problems [14,18]. These studies have shown that there is no certified planting material and that only a few are grown by farmers, generating vulnerability to different phytosanitary problems, for which it is necessary to carry out genetic studies that lead to the identification of elite materials that meet the needs of the productive chain of yellow dragon fruit in Colombia since the genetic base of germplasm resources is limited.…”