Physico-chemical characterization of peach ‘Eldorado’ produced in different systems of driving in the region of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

The most important peach production regions in Rio Grande do Sul are: Pelotas, Porto Alegre County and Serra Gaúcha. The study aimed to physicochemical characterization of cv. “Eldorado” peaches produced in different conduction systems of plants. The experiment was done in the experimental orchard of the Agricultural Center of Palma (FAEM/UFPel) in the crop year of 2006/2007. It was used orchard planted in 2000, with three conduction systems, Central Leader (CL), Ypsilon (Y) and Vase, with 1.5m spacing (between plants) X 5.0m (between rows). For the evaluations, it was selected five plants from each conduction system, and taken 15 fruits from each plant. The experimental design used was completely randomized with a factorial of 3 X 5. The taken measurements were: total soluble solids (TSS), average fruit weight, estimated production per hectare, pulp firmness, first category fruit percentage, color, titratable acidity (TA), the relation of TSS/TA, Vitamin C (mg 100g-1 ), antioxidants (mg 100g-1 ascorbic acid) and phenolic compounds (mg 100g-1 gallic acid). We conclude that peaches from plants conducted in the Central Leader system showed levels of vitamin C, while in the Vase and Ypsilon systems, the fruit had higher levels of phenolic compounds.