Post by rabia373 on Mar 10, 2024 22:39:32 GMT -5
After years of research in genetics and breeding, scientists obtained fruits with more pulp, reduced skin, and higher crop productivity – Photo: Professor Maria Lucia Carneiro Vieira’s personal file The yellow passion fruit is the most consumed by Brazilians, presenting a sour and acid flavor. However, depending on the genetic improvement research at USP, the sweet passion fruit (Passiflora alata) will soon be occupying more spaces in the stands of the fairs, grocery stores, and supermarkets. Studies conducted since have now reached promising results. The new genetically improved fruits have a higher amount of pulp, thinner skin, and increased crop productivity. Professor Maria Lucia Carneiro Vieira, from the Genetics Department at USP’s Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture (Esalq), in Piracicaba, led the research team. The results of the research represent higher profits for Brazilian fruit growers since the prices of these fruits, which are in the exotic category, reach three times more than the prices of sour passion fruit. An article on the latest results was published on PLoS ONE Improving research resources and fruit quality in sweet passion fruit: genotype detection by interaction in the environment and selection of promising genotypes in May.
The Dissertation Genetic Studies in a segregating sweet passion fruit population selected for fruit quality (Estudos genéticos em uma população segregante de maracujá-doce selecionada para qualidade de frutos), written by Lourdes Chavarría Perez, advisee of Maria Lucia, details the subject. In Brazil, the cultivation of passion fruit is comprised almost entirely by the sour cultivar, which covers approximately % of all orchards. The cultivation of sweet passion fruit is limited by the instability of fruit qua Whatsapp Number List lity from one crop to the next; as well as by the lack of genetic studies that would result in improved varieties and meet consumer needs in terms of quality and yield. Based on these issues, researchers in the field of genetics and plant breeding at Esalq committed themselves to find the solution. Population derived from the cross between the Amazonas x São Paulo sweet passion fruit After years of genetic research, scientists obtained fruits with more pulp, reduced skin, and higher crop productivity – Photo: Professor Maria Lucia Carneiro Vieira’s personal archive The six best genotypes (characteristics related to fruit weight, skin thickness, and pulp content) present in Esalq’s experimentation area are the results of decades of research.
The work began in from the cross between a genotype of Amazonas origin and another from the Southeast of the country (São Paulo). “The best genotypes of sweet passion fruit were reached after evaluating the progenies (offspring) of this crossing during many harvests obtained from plantations in different regions”, explains the researcher. According to Maria Lúcia, research on genetic improvement in plants are, in general, long and time-consuming because each phase of the study requires that plants be grown in at least three different regions, with each harvest lasting, on average, eight months. “Each planting area requires at least plants because it is necessary to repeat the tests to be sure of the best genotypes in different environments and crops”, explains the researcher to Jornal da USP. First, “we evaluated a hundred ‘progeny’, from which the best thirty were selected, which were, in turn, reevaluated, finally, arriving at the six superior genotypes that contain the characteristics that the researchers sought at the beginning of the study”. The fruits have higher quality, with attributes that please the consumer and the farmer: reduced skin, increased pulp, and higher crop productivity.
The Dissertation Genetic Studies in a segregating sweet passion fruit population selected for fruit quality (Estudos genéticos em uma população segregante de maracujá-doce selecionada para qualidade de frutos), written by Lourdes Chavarría Perez, advisee of Maria Lucia, details the subject. In Brazil, the cultivation of passion fruit is comprised almost entirely by the sour cultivar, which covers approximately % of all orchards. The cultivation of sweet passion fruit is limited by the instability of fruit qua Whatsapp Number List lity from one crop to the next; as well as by the lack of genetic studies that would result in improved varieties and meet consumer needs in terms of quality and yield. Based on these issues, researchers in the field of genetics and plant breeding at Esalq committed themselves to find the solution. Population derived from the cross between the Amazonas x São Paulo sweet passion fruit After years of genetic research, scientists obtained fruits with more pulp, reduced skin, and higher crop productivity – Photo: Professor Maria Lucia Carneiro Vieira’s personal archive The six best genotypes (characteristics related to fruit weight, skin thickness, and pulp content) present in Esalq’s experimentation area are the results of decades of research.
The work began in from the cross between a genotype of Amazonas origin and another from the Southeast of the country (São Paulo). “The best genotypes of sweet passion fruit were reached after evaluating the progenies (offspring) of this crossing during many harvests obtained from plantations in different regions”, explains the researcher. According to Maria Lúcia, research on genetic improvement in plants are, in general, long and time-consuming because each phase of the study requires that plants be grown in at least three different regions, with each harvest lasting, on average, eight months. “Each planting area requires at least plants because it is necessary to repeat the tests to be sure of the best genotypes in different environments and crops”, explains the researcher to Jornal da USP. First, “we evaluated a hundred ‘progeny’, from which the best thirty were selected, which were, in turn, reevaluated, finally, arriving at the six superior genotypes that contain the characteristics that the researchers sought at the beginning of the study”. The fruits have higher quality, with attributes that please the consumer and the farmer: reduced skin, increased pulp, and higher crop productivity.