| To develop a new method for floner forcing of pineapple, using 200 mg/L ethephon as control, the
integrated effects of ethylene absorbents (active carbon and zeolite) on the flower forcing of Yellow Mauritius pineapple
were studied. Results showed that active carbon could abosorb ethylene and release ethylene, and was very significantly
higher than zeolite. Zeolite saturated with ethylene could force pineapple into flowering successfully with flowering percent
of 100% and active carbon only induced 30%-60% of plants into flowering, which was far below the requirements of
commercial production. The flowering period was 1-2 days behind ethylene treatment. The number of fruitlet and fruit
weight were related with the quantity of ethylene absorbant. With the increase of the absorbent weight, the fruitlet number
and fruit weight decreased. There was very significant difference among all treatments except 0.3 g absorbants and control
in fruitlet number, and no significant difference in fruit weight. There was no difference in fruit internal quality (total
soluble solids, titratable acids and Vitamin C) among plants forced by active carbon, zeolite and ethephon, indicating that
as a new forcing method, zeolite was an appropriate absorbant of ethylene as forcing agent for Yellow Mauritius pineapple. |
