Assessment of Passion Fruit Trees Genotypes in Terms of Fruit Quality and Yields in Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil

Aims: This study aimed at evaluating genotypes of passion fruit regarding the quality and yield of their fruits in southern Brazil.

Study Design: The experimental design randomized complete block design with four genotypes and eight repetitions. The experimental unit, which was constituted by four plants, total forty plants per treatment.

Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was carried out at the Centro Agropecuário da Palma, which belongs to the Universidade Federal de Pelotas, located in Capão do Leão, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The experiment was conducted during the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons.

Methodology: Experiments were carried with the following genotypes: Passiflora edulis Catarina, Passiflora alata Urussanga, Passiflora edulis BRS Sol do Cerrado and Passiflora edulis BRS Rubi do Cerrado. We measured in the present study productivity, yield per plant, number of fruits per plant, number of fruits per hectare, mean fruit mass, soluble solids, titratable acidity, SS/TA relation, epidermis color, pericarp thickness, mean fruit length, mean fruit diameter and pulp yield.

Results: In 2013/2014 season, the yield of the yellow passion fruit BRS Sol do Cerrado, BRS Rubi do Cerrado and Catarina stood out. In this seasons, in general, the yellow passion fruit showed more productive capacity than the selection of the sweet passion fruit Urussanga. In 2014/2015 season, the genotype BRS Sol do Cerrado (20.36 Mg ha-1) had better data on yield than both genotypes Catarina (18.07 Mg ha-1) and Urussanga (12.05 Mg ha-1). The genotypes BRS Sol Cerrado, BRS Rubi do Cerrado and Catarina excelled in fruit mass, fruit length, fruit diameter and pulp yield. The passion fruit Urussanga had the lowest titratable acidity (2,05% citric acid in 2013/2014 and 2,07% citric acid in 2014/2015) and the highest contents of soluble solids (13,98°Brix in 2013/2014 and 14,27°Brix in 2014/2015) in fruits.

Conclusion: However, all evaluated genotypes show potential for production in southern Brazil. The physical-chemical quality of the fruits of the genotypes, show differences between them, however all are within the acceptable parameters.