2005 Volume 43 Issue 1 Pages 61-65
The effect on fruit set and stigma receptivity of a pre-pollination treatment with 0.75 μ11-11-MCP, an inhibitor of ethylene action, was tested in flowers of ‘Housui’ Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifoliaNakai) . 1-MCP increased the fruit set and the number of stigmas with pollen germination in flowers hand-pollinated at 6 and 7 days after anthesis. Twenty hours afterin vitropollination, 1-MCP reduced the ethylene production of pollinated and non-pollinated styles of 1 day after anthesis flowers. Collectively, these results suggest that style senescence was delayed by 1-MCP resulting in the higher fruit set in late pollinated flowers.