Annals of Botany 78: 289-294, 1996
© 1996 Annals of Botany Company
Within Plant Sampling Procedures—Fruit Variation in Kiwifruit Vines
The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand
June 5, 1995 ; January 4, 1996
Costs of fruit assessment often dictate that only a sample of fruit is taken for analysis. To ensure the sample results are consistent with those expected from the whole fruit population, selected fruit must be representative of the fruit population under investigation and the sample estimate should be unbiased.
Samples of fruit from kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa var. deliciosa) vines grown on T-bar trellis systems were harvested and the mass of each individual fruit within the sample recorded. The choice of an individual fruit was completely objective and consisted of systematically selecting fruit based on their hierarchical location within the vine. Fruit not included in the sample were also harvested and weighed. The fruit were assigned to a zone based on their position within the vine canopy. Comparison of the sample estimates with the expected values showed the sample gave a reliable estimate of the average harvest mass. Errors in sampling technique were identified by the comparison of the locations of the sampled fruits with the those from the expected sample set. These operator errors were divided into two classes; incorrect lateral choice within a cane and wrongly sampled fruits within an individual lateral. With respect to fruit weight, analysis of the two classes of error indicated that neither source had any significant effect on the reliability of the sample.
Fruit sampling; fruit variability; plant architecture; Actinidia deliciosa ; kiwifruit