Estimation of fruit grade weights based on fruit number and total fruit weight in cucumber

摘要

In many cases, measurement of cucumber fruit weight in small research plots involves more labor and resources than just counting the number of fruit per plot. Therefore, plant breeders are interested in an efficient method for estimating fruit weight per grade (early, marketable, and cull) based on fruit number and total fruit weight. We evaluated the cucumber germplasm collection of 810 plant introduction accessions (supplied by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Regional Plant Introduction Station at Ames, Iowa) along with seven check cultivars for yield. Correlations were calculated for all pairs of fruit number and fruit weight combinations for each grade. In general, the lowest correlations were observed between the fruit weight of each grade (early, marketable, and cull) and total fruit weight or number per plot. High correlations were observed for fruit weight and fruit number within each grade (early, marketable, and cull). An efficient method for estimating fruit weight per hectare of early, marketable, and cull grades is to count total, early, and cull fruit, then measure total fruit weight. Our results showed that the fruit weight of each grade (early, marketable, and cull) was best estimated using the fruit number of that grade (early, marketable, and cull) along with the total fruit weight and total fruit number.