Relationship between fruit traits and contents of ascorbic acid and carotenoids in peach

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between fruit traits and their direct and indirect effects on the content of ascorbic acid and carotenoids in peaches and nectarines. The traits fruit mass (FM); equatorial diameter (ED); suture diameter (SD); polar diameter (PD); pulp firmness (FIR); soluble solids (SS); titratable acidity (TA); SS/TA ratio; contents of ascorbic acid (AA) and carotenoids (CT); and skin and pulp color were evaluated in 28 peach cultivars, and two nectarine cultivars. The phenotypic correlation coefficients were estimated (rf), and after multicollinearity diagnosis, unfolding was carried out in direct and indirect effects of the explanatory variables in the response variable by using path analysis. The strongest correlations ​​were found between FM, SD, ED, and PD, and between carotenoid content and °h pulp. The traits considered in the path diagrams are not the main determinants of the ascorbic acid content. The yellow color of the pulp has the potential for indirect selection for carotenoid content.