Caracterización en pre y poscosecha de dos cultivares de melón reticulado del tipo Oriental (Cucumis melo Grupo Cantalupensis)

Abstract

To characterize the pre- and post-harvest performance of Oriental-type cantaloupes (Cucumis melo Group Cantalupensis), cultivars Emerald and Glamour were grown following the common culture practices of Chile. Both cultivars exhibited vigorous plant growth and high productivity, but they produce fruits with different characteristics. Fruits of melon cv. Emerald slip when ripe, were medium sized (1.0 kg) and oval-shaped, with a green epidermis, fi ne and sparse superfi cial netting, and green to whitish pulp with 10.3% mean content of total soluble solids (TSS). In contrast, fruits of cv. Glamour did not slip when ripe, were almost round-shaped, medium sized (1.1 kg), and had a greyish yellow epidermis, coarse and dense netting, and a bright orange pulp with 11.4% mean TSS content. Yields were higher than for other cantaloupe cultivars, reaching 42.4 t·ha-1 in cv. Glamour and 53.2 t·ha-1 in cv. Emerald. Post-harvest behaviour was evaluated after 18 days of storage at 0 and 10ºC, and after three additional days at 20ºC. Results indicated a low sensitivity to chilling injury, particularly for Glamour fruits, which kept better at 0 than at 10ºC with lower weight loss and a slower post- harvest disease development, leading to a higher fi nal quality. Overall, cv. Glamour is a cultivar with high potential for the fresh market and industry, showing more attractive characteristics, better storage, and higher quality than cv. Emerald.