Characterization of 'Gefner' atemoya seedless fruits with GA3 application

Abstract

The present study was carried out with the objective of evaluating the effect of artificial pollination and gibberellic acid (GA3) in different doses and times of application in the fruit set, effective fruiting and the quality of 'Gefner' atemoieira fruits. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, with thirteen treatments, four replicates and five plants per plot. The treatments applied were different doses of GA3: 100, 150, 200, 250, 500 and 1000 mg L-1 associated or not with artificial pollination. It was evaluated every seven days the fruit set, length and diameter of the fruits, and after the harvest the physical and chemical characteristics of the fruits. The growth rate of fruit length and diameter showed a sigmoid pattern with the highest growth peaks in all treatments at the 4th and 5th weeks after the anthesis. The application of 1000 mg L-1 GA3, without artificial pollination, divided in four times from the anthesis yielded seedless fruits with physical and chemical quality equivalent to the fruits of artificial pollination. The artificial pollination associated to two applications of 250 mg L-1 of GA3 showed high fruit set and fruits with greater length, diameter, mass of the fruits and reduction of the total fresh mass of the seeds.