Abstract
Calcium sprays have normally improved both the quality and the storage life of apples throughout the world because Ca helps to prevent many fruit disorders and that taken up from the soil does not often reach the fruit in adequate amounts. Since the efficacy of Ca sprays varies according to soil, apple cultivar, and weather conditions, this study was carried out from 1998 to 2004, in the Southern of Brazil, in order to assess the effect of Ca sprays on the quality and storability of 'Gala' fruits. The experiment was set up in an orchard planted in 1988, on a density of 1234 trees/ha. Treatments consisted of 0, 4, 8, and 12 annual sprays of 0.5% CaCl2 regularly distributed 30 days after petal fall until one week before harvest. Fruits of the same size and maturity level were annually analyzed at harvest and after five months of conventional cold storage (-1ºC and 90-95% of RH). In five out of six seasons, fruits from all treatments were free of any physiological disorder, and Ca sprays had no effect on leaf composition and on any fruit attribute (soluble solids, titratable acidity, starch pattern index, flesh firmness, and concentrations of N, K, Ca and Mg). In the season of 2000/2001, however, when yield was 18 t ha-1 and fruits had an average weight of 175 g, the incidence of bitter pit plus lenticel blotch pit on stored fruits was 24% in the treatment with no calcium sprays and it decreased up to 2% in that with 12 sprays. Two seasons later, yield was also low (25 t ha-1) and fruits were large (168 g each), but they did not show any physiological disorder regardless of the number of Ca sprays. It seems that the incidence of Ca related disorders in 'Gala' apples grown on limed soils in Brazil with no excess of any nutrient only occurs on seasons with low crop yield, as a result of large fruits and a high leaf/fruit ratio, associated with some unknown environmental conditions.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
In five of six seasons, fruit in every treatment had no physiological disorder.
- Taxon
- apples
Malus domesticat0 - Outcome
- free of any physiological disordere0
- Qualifier
- five out of six seasonse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In five out of six seasons, fruits from all treatments were free of any physiological disorder”
t0“Preharvest calcium sprays were not always needed to improve quality of 'gala' apples in Brazil”
Claim · model-written summary
Calcium sprays had no effect on leaf composition.
- Taxon
- applesMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- Ca sprayse0
- Outcome
- leaf compositione0
- Direction
- no effecte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Ca sprays had no effect on leaf composition and on any fruit attribute”
t0“Preharvest calcium sprays were not always needed to improve quality of 'gala' apples in Brazil”
Claim · model-written summary
Calcium sprays had no effect on soluble solids, titratable acidity, or starch pattern index.
- Taxon
- applesMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- Ca sprayse0
- Outcome
- soluble solids, titratable acidity, starch pattern indexe0
- Direction
- no effecte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Ca sprays had no effect on leaf composition and on any fruit attribute (soluble solids, titratable acidity, starch pattern index, flesh firmness, and concentrations of N, K, Ca and Mg).”
t0“Preharvest calcium sprays were not always needed to improve quality of 'gala' apples in Brazil”
Claim · model-written summary
Calcium sprays had no effect on flesh firmness and fruit N, K, Ca, or Mg concentrations.
- Taxon
- applesMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- Ca sprayse0
- Outcome
- flesh firmness, and concentrations of N, K, Ca and Mge0
- Direction
- no effecte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Ca sprays had no effect on leaf composition and on any fruit attribute (soluble solids, titratable acidity, starch pattern index, flesh firmness, and concentrations of N, K, Ca and Mg).”
t0“Preharvest calcium sprays were not always needed to improve quality of 'gala' apples in Brazil”
Claim · model-written summary
In 2000/2001, bitter pit plus lenticel blotch pit incidence on stored fruit dropped from 24% without sprays to 2% with 12 sprays.
- Taxon
- applesMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- 12 sprayse0
- Outcome
- incidence of bitter pit plus lenticel blotch pit on stored fruitse0
- Direction
- decreasede0
- Value
- 2%e0
- Qualifier
- 24%e0
- Comparator
- no calcium sprayse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the incidence of bitter pit plus lenticel blotch pit on stored fruits was 24% in the treatment with no calcium sprays and it decreased up to 2% in that with 12 sprays.”
t0“Preharvest calcium sprays were not always needed to improve quality of 'gala' apples in Brazil”
Claim · model-written summary
Two seasons later, no physiological disorder appeared regardless of calcium spray number despite low yield and large fruit.
- Taxon
- applesMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- did not show any physiological disordere0
- Qualifier
- regardless of the number of Ca sprayse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Two seasons later, yield was also low (25 t ha-1) and fruits were large (168 g each), but they did not show any physiological disorder regardless of the number of Ca sprays.”
t0“Preharvest calcium sprays were not always needed to improve quality of 'gala' apples in Brazil”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors infer calcium related disorders occur only in low yield seasons with large fruits, a high leaf to fruit ratio and unknown environmental conditions.
- Taxon
- 'Gala' applese0
- Outcome
- incidence of Ca related disorderse0
- Qualifier
- only occurs on seasons with low crop yielde0
- Setting
- Brazile0
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e0“It seems that the incidence of Ca related disorders in 'Gala' apples grown on limed soils in Brazil with no excess of any nutrient only occurs on seasons with low crop yield, as a result of large fruits and a high leaf/fruit ratio, associated with some unknown environmental conditions.”
The same questions in other papers
calcium atom · quality: sugar starch · Malus domestica (apple)Results differ
9 papers in the same direction as this paper · 10 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
16 papers more in this group
See all 20 papers →calcium atom · quality: postharvest · Malus domestica (apple)Results differ
4 papers in the same direction as this paper · 33 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
34 papers more in this group
See all 38 papers →calcium atom · quality: general · Malus domestica (apple)Positive and negative results
5 papers in the same direction as this paper · 5 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
7 papers more in this group
See all 11 papers →application · quality: general · Malus domestica (apple)Positive and negative results
9 papers in the same direction as this paper · 11 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
17 papers more in this group
See all 21 papers →application · quality: sugar starch · Malus domestica (apple)Positive and negative results
19 papers in the same direction as this paper · 29 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
45 papers more in this group
See all 49 papers →application · quality: postharvest · Malus domestica (apple)Positive and negative results
15 papers in the same direction as this paper · 58 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
- positive
70 papers more in this group
See all 74 papers →application · disease · Malus domestica (apple)Positive and negative results
79 papers in the same direction as this paper · 26 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- negative
- negative
103 papers more in this group
See all 107 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.