2021 Volume 20 Issue 1 Pages 65-71
In recent years, extremely late-harvesting peach ‘Fuyumomogatari®’, which is commercially harvested in November, has been grown in Okayama, Japan. The fruit developmental pattern of ‘Fuyumomogatari®’ was investigated at an orchard across two seasons and compared with ‘Akizora’, which is harvested in late-August. In ‘Fuyumomogatari®’, Stage 1 of fruit growth was completed at almost the same time in ‘Akizora’, while Stage 2 of fruit growth continued for more than two months, one month longer than ‘Akizora’. In this period, the relative fruit growth rate in ‘Fuyumomogatari®’ was clearly lower than that in the other stages. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed in developmental speeds of the endosperm and embryo between ‘Fuyumomogatari®’ and ‘Akizora’. Fruit growth during Stage 3 in ‘Fuyumomogatari®’ continued until the end of October at a slower growth rate than that observed in ‘Akizora’. Thereafter, several weeks of possible mature stage were observed before commercial harvest in ‘Fuyumomogatari®’. Significant levels of ethylene were already present in ‘Fuyumomogatari®’ fruit at harvest in both experimental seasons. Harvested fruits were ripened at 20°C for 15 days and the ripening characteristics were investigated. The decrease in flesh firmness was relatively slow in both seasons, and all fruit showed optimum edible quality from Days 6 to 12 during ripening at 20°C. Similar developmental and ripening characteristics were observed in ‘Fuyumomogatari®’ grafted onto its seedling and grown on the experimental farm of Okayama University, suggesting that these unique traits shown in ‘Fuyumomogatari®’ are stable traits that can be transferred by grafting.
