Fruit morphology measurements of Jujube Cultivar ‘Lingwu Changzao’ (Ziziphus jujuba Mill. cv. Lingwuchangzao) during fruit development

Authors: MA, YAPING - Ningxia University; SONG, LIHUA - Ningxia University; WANG, ZHUANGJI - University Of Maryland; Zhang, Dapeng; CAO, BING - Ningxia University

Submitted to: Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/4/2021
Publication Date: 2/6/2021
Citation: Ma, Y., Song, L., Wang, Z., Zhang, D., Cao, B. 2021. Fruit morphology measurements of Jujube Cultivar ‘Lingwu Changzao’ (Ziziphus jujuba Mill. cv. Lingwuchangzao) during fruit development. Horticulturae. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7020026.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7020026

Interpretive Summary: The Chinese Jujube (jujube, red date, Chinese date) is one of the most important fruit crops in Asia. Jujube fruits are highly nutritious and are consumed as fresh or dried fruit and used in food and traditional medicine. Jujube is becoming increasingly popular around the world for its outstanding adaptability, especially drought tolerance. Jujube is an ideal economic crop for arid and semiarid areas of the temperate and subtropical regions where other common fruit trees do not grow well. Morphological traits of jujube fruits have important horticultural value contributing to yields, quality attributes and consumer acceptance. However little knowledge is available regarding the fruit morphological changes during fruit development. The present study analyzed the dynamic change of jujube fruit morphology during the full stage of fruit development. The results showed that the changing pattern of fruit morphology coincides with a double 'S' growth curves. Multivariant analysis further suggested that fruit growth of jujube was mainly characterized by fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight and flesh thickness across the full stage of fruit development. The different patterns between fruit and stone traits provided a biological explanation for the high fruit/stone ratio of cultivar ‘Lingwu Changzao’, which is one of the most desirable quality attributes in the fresh jujube market. These findings will be used by jujube researchers, extension staff and farmers to develop crop management practice for jujube production.

Technical Abstract: The Chinese Jujube (jujube, red date, Chinese date) is a species of Ziziphus in the Rhamnaceae family. Morphological traits of jujube fruits have important horticultural value contributing to yields, quality attributes and consumer acceptance. The objective of this study is to understand dynamic patterns of fruit morphological traits during jujube fruit development. Eight fruit morphological traits of ‘Lingwu Changzao’, a traditional jujube cultivar from Ningxia, China, were measured eight times over a three-month period, covering the full stage of fruit development. The analyzed morphological traits comprised of four fruit traits [fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight and flesh (mesocarp) thickness], three stone traits (stone length, stone diameter and stone weight) and fruit hardness. The measured results, as presented by boxplots, showed that the change pattern of these morphological traits, except for fruit hardness, coincide with a double 'S' growth curves. PCA and variable correlation analysis further suggested that fruit growth of cultivar ‘Lingwu Changzao’ was mainly characterized by the dynamics of fruit traits (i.e. fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight and fruit flesh thickness) across the full stage of fruit development, whereas the change of stone traits terminated in early growing season. All fruit traits in this study are closely correlated and they better reflect the fruit growth of cultivar ‘Lingwu Changzao’ than the stone traits. The different patterns between fruit and stone traits provided a biological explanation for the high fruit/stone ratio of ‘Lingwu Changzao’, which is one of the highly desirable quality attributes appreciated in the fresh-eating jujube market.