Water dynamics in mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit during the young and mature fruit seasons as measured by the stem heat balance method.
Higuchi H., Sakuratani T.
Author Affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
Journal of the Japanese Society for Horticultural Science 75 : 11-19
Abstract : Water flows in the stems and peduncles of mango (cv. Irwin) fruits were monitored, and the surface transpiration from the fruits was measured during the fruit-growing season of 1995 in Japan on cv. Irwin under plastic house conditions. The stem heat balance method was used on the peduncles to monitor the inward water flow during the nighttime, and the reverse water flow from the fruits during the daytime when the stem transpiration water flow increased. This diurnal fluctuation pattern in the water flow was more evident in mature fruits than in young fruits. In mature fruits, the daily water loss due to the reverse flow was estimated to be 3% of the fruit weight. The reverse flow water loss and transpired water loss were compensated for by nocturnal inward water flow, through the peduncle, of 30 g over 15 h. These results were well supported by measurements of fruit dimensions, which indicated a circadian rhythm of contraction and expansion. The reverse flow amounted to 80% of the water loss from the daytime contraction of the fruit, a much greater proportion than the fruit surface transpiration.