Influencia de la fuente de polen y su efectividad en la calidad de frutos de chirimoya ( Annona cherimola MILL.)

The influence of the pollen source and the time of hand pollination on fruit set and fruit quality were evaluated in 3 cultivars of cherimoya: ‘Campas’, (Californ) ‘White’ and ‘Bonita’ (Spain). Artificial self-pollination and cross-pollination (pollen unmixed) were performed in each cultivar, at 3 different times of day (07:00-09:00, 10:00-12:00 and 18:00- 20:00 h), using the brush technique. In all cultivars, the percentage of fruit set with natural pollination was low (5 to 10%). Self-pollination treatment was the less efficient, especially in ‘Bonita’ (47.90%). Conversely, when ‘Bonita’ was used as pollen parent, fruit set percentage was significantly high in ‘Campas’ (85.83%) and ‘White’ (87.40%). Furthermore, the source of pollen had a significant effect, increasing fruit weight, number of seeds, seed weight, pulp weight and symmetry in the 3 cultivars.