Behavior In Yield And Quality Of 54 Cape Gooseberry (Physalis Peruviana L.) Accessions From North-Eastern Colombia

Behavior in yield and quality of 54 cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) accessions from north-eastern Colombia
Comportamiento en producción y calidad de 54 accesiones de uchuva (Physalis peruviana L.) provenientes del nor-oriente colombiano
Axel M. Herrera M.1, Julián D. Ortiz A.1, Gerhard Fischer1, and María I. Chacón S.1, 2

ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the performance in productionand fruit quality of 54 accessions of cape gooseberry collected from plants that were cultivated, feral and indeterminate from the north-east. The experiment was carried out using a completely randomized design with four replicates per accession in a greenhouse. We estimated the germination percentage (GP) for 30 seeds per accession and with a random sampling of 20 fruits at 120 days after thebeginning of harvest (dah), weight of the fruit with calyx (CFW), percentage of cracked fruit (CF), number of fruits per plant (NFP) and yield (Y), were determined and at 105 dah total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA), maturity ratio (MR = TSS/TTA), pH and ascorbic acid (AA) were evaluated. Significant differences were observed in GP, Y and CFW with the highest values recorded at91.23%, 6.17 kg/ plant and 5.68 g, respectively. For the variables TSS and CF, feral materials showed the highest values with 14.7°Brix and 23.93%, respectively. The results suggest the presence of significant variability in the cape gooseberry germplasm analyzed that can be incorporated into future conservation and breeding programs.

RESUMEN
El presente estudio evaluó el comportamiento en laproducción y calidad de fruto de 54 accesiones de uchuva colectadas en situación cultivada, asilvestrada e indeterminada provenientes del nor-oriente del país. Se estableció un experimento bajo un diseño completamente al azar con cuatro repeticiones por accesión en invernadero. Se estimó el porcentaje de germinación para 30 semillas por accesión y mediante una muestra de 20 frutos al azar y a los120 días después del inicio de cosecha (ddc) se evaluó el peso de fruto con cáliz, porcentaje de rajado de fruto, número de frutos por planta y rendimiento, y a los 105 ddc se determinó los sólidos solubles totales, acidez total titulable, relación de madurez (sólidos solubles totales/acidez total titulable), pH y ácido ascórbico. Se observaron diferencias significativas en el porcentaje degerminación, rendimiento y peso de fruto con cáliz en donde los materiales cultivados registraron los mayores valores con 91,23%, 6,17 kg/planta y 5,68 g, respectivamente. Para las variables sólidos solubles totales y porcentaje de rajado, los materiales asilvestrados presentaron los mayores valores con 14,7°Brix y 23,93%, respectivamente. Los resultados sugieren la presencia de variabilidad importanteen el germoplasma de uchuva analizado que puede ser incorporada en futuros programas de conservación y mejoramiento. Palabras clave: domesticación, accesión, germoplasma, variabilidad, frutos.

Key words: domestication, accession, germplasm variability, fruit.

Introduction
Colombia is the world’s largest exporter of cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) because ecotype Colombia has excelledin the world market due to its characteristics such as sweet flavor, aroma and bright color (Agronet, 2010; Galvis et al., 2005). Furthermore, the large commercial acceptance and adaptive success that this species has exhibited has led to its wide distribution in different agro-ecological conditions in the Andes (Ligarreto et al., 2005), making it one of the most promising fruit for thedevelopment of the Colombian highlands.
Received for publication: 22 November, 2010. Accepted for publication: 2 June, 2011.
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Domestic production of the cape gooseberry grew at a rate of 42.6% between 1993 and 2008, with a production last year of 15,463 t and an average yield of 18.4 t ha-1, with the largest contributions coming from the departments of Boyaca, Cundinamarca and Antioquia with...