ARI REVIEW FOR 2016-2017

Fig. 3.1. Mean comparisons for fruit flesh firmness (A), cell density (B), cell size (C) and fruit content in citrulline (D) obtained from watermelon cv. Pegasus grown homeografted, non-grafted or heterografted on rootstock N101. All data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation, n = 5. Values followed by the same letter are not significantly different according to Tukey-Kramer HSD Test (P < 0.05). Yield and quality of three mini watermelon [ Citrullus lanatus (Thunb) Matsum & Nakai] cultivars grafted on C. maxima × C. moschata rootstock Over the last years, the market share commanded by mini (3-5 kg) watermelon cultivars has been growing across watermelon producing countries. In Cyprus this type of watermelon has not been adopted yet by local producers, mainly because of the unfamiliarity of the local market with the product. The objectives of this study have been to evaluate the field performance of three grafted mini watermelon cultivars on a C. maxima x C. moschata rootstock. Large fruited diploid cv. Pegasus was used as control. Fructose content of the two triploid mini cvs. Sunday Special and Alicante was higher than that of the mini diploid cv. Modellino, and that of control diploid cv. Pegasus (Table 3.1). On the contrary, cv. Modellino had the highest sucrose content than of all cultivars. Both triploid cvs. Sunday Special and Alicante had higher glucose content than cv. Modellino but not that of control . No significant differences were observed among the triploid and the diploid cultivars with respect to total sugars content and SSC. All cultivars produced similar yield (90 t ha -1 ). ( G.A. Soteriou, M.C. Kyriacou ) 28 Vegetable Crops