| dc.description | The fig (Ficus carica L.) is characterized as a highly perishable infructescence due to its high
susceptibility to softening and mechanical damages. During the last decades, the
conservation studies of fresh fruit have focused on the application of new post-harvest
technologies to increase the useful life of the fruit to maintain the original quality of fresh
fruit as long as possible. Some studies prove that the application of calcium (Ca+2) increases
the useful life of the fruit. However, the low mobility of calcium in the phloem and its low
translocation from the place of application can limit the effect of calcium in situ. Therefore,
the objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of the fruits of the fig tree with
biophysical and biochemical variables, during the development and post-harvest, by the
effect of calcium chelating translocation to the infructescence, when it is applied foliarly. The
work was done in Alfajayucan municipality, State of Hidalgo, Mexico. Nine treatments were
performed of which five of them employed the amino acid glycine applied simultaneously
with calcium chloride (1.6 mM+0.5%, 1.6 mM+1.0%, 3.2 mM+0.5%, 3.2 mM+1.0%, 3.2
VI
mM+1.5%), in three treatments the EDTA chelate was applied simultaneously with calcium
chloride (2.68 mM+0.5%, 2.68 mM+1.0%, 2.68 mM+1.5%) and a control (0 mM glicina, 0
mM EDTA y 0% CaCl2). The samples obtained in pre-harvest and post-harvest were
transported to Horticultural Laboratory of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, UAEMéx.,
where were evaluated pre-harvest variables: fresh weight, polar/equatorial diameter and
calcium content (Ca); and post-harvest variables: weight loss, firmness and color. The
statistical analysis showed no significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) for the variables: fresh
weight, polar/equatorial diameter and firmness, nevertheless, for the variables weight loss,
calcium content and color there were significant differences (p ≤ 0.05). The control treatment
showed the infructescences with the lowest calcium content (0.103mg∙g-1
) and a considerable
loss of weight (49.3% 7 days after harvest) compared to the infructescences of treatments 1.6
mM glycine + 1.0% CaCl2 y 2.69,mM EDTA + 1.5% CaCl2 that obtained positive results for
these variables: 30.5% y 2.74 mg∙g-1
; 29.9% y 3.59 mg∙g-1
respectively. | |
