The plant age influences eggplant fruit growth, metabolic activity, texture and shelf-life

Valerga, Lucia
Darré, Magalí
Zaro, Maria Jose
Vicente, Ariel Roberto
Lemoine, María Laura
Concellón, Analía

Open link

Publication date

October 2020

DOI

10.1016/j.scienta.2020.109590

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Journal

Scientia Horticulturae

Abstract

Vegetable quality shows extensive variation along a single production cycle depending on the harvest season. So far, these effects have been mostly attributed to variations in preharvest climatic conditions, resource availability and cultural practices. Whether or not some of these differences are also influenced by variations in the plant age is unknown. The aim of this work was to evaluate if the plant age modulates eggplant fruit composition at harvest and postharvest performance. Eggplants were synchronically produced in plants having different age (4-or 9-month old). At the same dates fruit was picked and assessed for quality at three developmental stages: Baby (9 cm long), Small-Commercially Mature (Small-CM, 17 cm long) and Large-Com...