Phenology, canopy composition, and fruit quality of yellow pitaya in tropical Taiwan.

摘要

Yellow pitaya is a potential new fruit in Taiwan. It sprouts mostly in winter and flowers in late spring and fall. In this study, an average of 60% shoots within canopies flowered. Shoots sprouted in the current winter flowered in fall and produced winter fruits, and shoots sprouted earlier than the current winter flowered in late spring and produced summer fruits. Floral buds on most shoots appeared at the distal end. The wt., pulp percentage and TSS of winter fruits were significantly higher than those of summer fruits. The number of black seeds was positively correlated with pulp wt. (R2 = 0.87). TSS in the core region of winter fruits reached 22.7 degrees Brix, higher than that in other regions. It is suggested that future efforts to improve yellow pitaya production in Taiwan could include increasing winter fruit production by enhancing growth of the current year's new shoots through proper canopy management and increasing the size of summer fruit by artificial pollination, fruit thinning and other means.