Abstract:

The study aims to clarify the advantageous planting areas of passion fruit in Fujian by studying the quality of passion fruits from different parts of the province, and provide guidance for farmers to develop passion fruit industry. Using ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No.1’ and ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No.3’ from different production areas in the province as materials, the fruit quality was comprehensively evaluated by principal component analysis, and the differences of fruit quality among different production areas were compared by quality determination analysis. The results showed that there were quality differences of passion fruits from different places of origin, and the single fruit weight, fruit edible rate and sugar-acid ratio were the main factors affecting the fruit quality. The single fruit weight and edible rate of ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No.1’ grown in Yanping were the highest, and were significantly higher than those of Xinluo fruits. The highest sugar-acid ratio was found in Xinluo fruits (3.03), followed by that of Youxi fruits and Yanping fruits, and the lowest was observed in fruits from Gutian. The highest single fruit weight of ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No.3’ was found in Hui’an (92.87 g), which was extremely and significantly higher than that in Hua’an, Fu’an and Wuping. The highest fruit edible rate was found in Hua’an (55.26%), which was extremely and significantly different from that in Fu’an (17.8%). The highest sugar-acid ratio was found in Hui’an (6.79), which was extremely and significantly higher than that in Fu’an, Hua’an and Wuping. The highest overall score for ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No.1’ was achieved by fruits from Yanping (0.2194) and the lowest was gotten by fruits from Gutian (0.1405). ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No. 3’ had the highest overall score in Hua’an and Hui’an (0.2461). The fruit quality of passion fruits in Fujian was correlated with the latitude of the production area, but not obviously correlated with the longitude; the best planting area for superior quality ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No.1’ was 25°-26°N and that for ‘Fujian Passion Fruit No.3’ was 25°N. The area of certain altitude in the suitable latitude range is beneficial to improving the fruit quality, and can reduce the heat barrier for passion fruits.

Key words: passion fruit, place of origin, latitude and longitude, altitude, fruit quality, regional division