Mid-season sweet oranges for fresh and processing markets in Brazil

Pera sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) is the most important mid-season sweet orange cultivar in Brazil, not only because of its desirable fruit quality for both juice processing and the fresh fruit market, but also because there is a lack of adequate mid-season alternative sweet orange cultivars. This study aimed to evaluate the horticultural performance of other sweet oranges in an attempt to identify similar or superior selections to the standard cultivar, Pera IAC sweet orange. Seventeen sweet oranges selections, including the standard Pera IAC, were budded on Sunki mandarin [C. sunki (Hayata) hort. ex Tanaka]. The experiment was planted in 2007, using 12-month-old nursery trees, with 6.5 × 2.5 m spacing in the Southern region of Sao Paulo state, Brazil. The experimental orchard was maintained with standard commercial management practices, and without supplementary irrigation. Data collection started three years after planting and was carried out until seven years after the experiment had been installed. Vegetative growth, plant yield, fruit drop, fruit quality, and fruit maturation regressions were assessed. Averages of the alternative selections were compared with those of the standard cultivar by Dunnett test. Performance indexes were calculated in order to identify potential superior selections for the fresh fruit market and for juice processing. Results indicated significant differences among the selections evaluated when compared with the standard cultivar, suggesting better alternatives to be exploited. Five selections (Biondo, Finike, Pera Alexandre Marostica, Seleta Rio, and Vaccaro Blood) offered superior performance in terms of attributes required for the fresh fruit market, while one selection (Pera Alexandre Marostica) was superior for juice processing traits. These alternatives to Pera IAC represent an opportunity for more efficient and productive scions with higher fruit quality, and with a slight shift within the mid-season harvest time of sweet oranges in Brazil.