Is manual pollination of yellow passion fruit completely dispensable?

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UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE MINAS GERAIS
INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS AGRÁRIAS
ACADÊMICO: ADSON PEREIRA DOS SANTOS
Is manual pollination of yellow passion fruit
completely dispensable?
Murilo V. Silveiraa, Alfredo R. Abotb, José N. Nascimentoc, Edson T. Rodriguesb, Sérgio R. 
Rodriguesb, Anderson Pukerd,∗
a Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronomia, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do 
Sul, Aquidauana, MS, Brazil
b Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Aquidauana, MS, Brazil
c Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Dourados, MS, Brazil
d Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, Departamento de Entomologia, 
Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
ABSTRACT
 This study sought answer the following questions:
 (a) is there a difference in the efficiency of fruit production when one or
more stigmas are pollinated manually, by natural pollinators (or both)?
 (b) does manual or natural pollination (or both) affect the physical and
chemical characteristics of the fruits?
 Flowers were pollinated manually, naturally by native bees or by
using both methods.
1. Introduction
 Yellow passion fruit :
 is a self-incompatible plant that completely depends on cross-pollination
for its reproduction.
 have characteristics adapted to suit pollination by large bees.
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1. Introduction
 The low rates of pollination by native bees are probably related to:
 the absence and/or reduction of vegetation cover close to cultivated
areas
 the use of pesticides, which is relatively common in commercial crops.
 These are probably some of the factors that have justified the use of
manual pollination.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Location of study, crop and management of the plants
 Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), Aquidauana,
Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
 The climate is Tropical Hot–Humid, with average anual temperature
of 26 ◦C and annual rainfall from 1200 mm to 1300 mm.
 Cultivation was initiated in April 2008, with spacing of 3 m between
rows and 5 m between plants (density of 667 plants ha−1) in a
vertical cordon system.
2. Materials and methods
2.2. Experiments
 Each treatment of pollination was composed of 60 flowers
distributed in 24 plants, with a maximum of three flowers per plant
per treatment. Fruit production was recorded seven days after
anthesis.
 Treatments of pollination were:
 (1) spontaneous self-pollination – the marked buds remained covered
during the opening of the flower;
 (2) natural pollination, excluding carpenter bees – buds were marked
before anthesis and covered with a screen
 (3) flowers in pre-anthesis were covered with a screen (mesh 0.5 mm × 0.5
mm), which were removed when the stigmas were capable of being
pollinated. At this moment manual pollination was performed, depositing
pollen in one stigma and re-covering the flower to prevent the entry of
any potential pollinators
2. Materials and methods
2.2. Experiments
 Treatments of pollination were:
 (4) idem previous treatment, but to perform the pollination, pollen was
deposited in two stigmas,
 (5) idem treatment 4, but with pollination in three stigmas;
 (6) natural pollination buds were marked before anthesis and remained
free to natural pollination by insects;
 (7) natural and manual pollination in one stigma;
 (8) natural and manual pollination in two stigmas ;
 (9) natural and manual pollination in three stigmas.
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2. Materials and methods
2.2. Experiments
 Manual pollination was always performed between 13:30 and 15:00
from April 10 to May 30, 2009.
 Ten fruits from each treatment (one fruit per plant) were arbitrarily
selected.
 fresh biomass of the fruit;
 length; 
 diameter; 
 shell thickness; 
 number of seeds; 
 juice biomass; 
 juice percentage (juice
biomass/fruit × 100); 
 total soluble solids (TSS) (◦Brix); 
 total titratable acidity (TTA); 
 and finally the ratio between total 
soluble solids and total titratable
acidity (TSS/TTA). 
 Generalized Linear Model (GLM)
 These analyzes were conducted with the software program R (R
Development Core Team, 2012).
2. Materials and methods
2.3. Data analysis
 Carpenter bees were sampled
directly from flowers of the
yellow passion fruit plant with an
entomological net.
 Dr. Fernando Cesar Vieira
Zanella (Universidade Federal de
Campina Grande, UFCG, Patos,
Paraíba, Brazil).
 Laboratory of Ecology and
Biogeography of Insects from
the Caatinga (UFCG) and
Entomology Laboratory of the
UEMS.
2. Materials and methods
2.4. Sampling, identification and deposit of the voucher 
specimens
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3. Results
3.1. Pollination efficiency and time until harvest
 There was no fruit production in flowers that did not receive pollen
by natural or manual pollinators.
 Confirming the need for cross-pollination by insects or manual
methods.
 The biomass of fresh yellow passion fruits was not affected by
pollination.
 Different pollination strategies did not alter the length, diameter or
shell thickness of fresh fruits harvested from the yellow passion fruit
plant.
 The number of seeds in a particular fruit is closely related to the
number of fertilized stigmas, therefore this is an extremely important
variable in studies involving different pollination techniques. In our
study, different treatments affected the number of seeds in the
yellow passion fruit.
3. Results
3.2. Physico-chemical profiles of the fruits
 Juice biomass was influenced by the different treatments for the
yellow passion fruit plant, but not its percentage.
 Three of the chemical characteristics of yellow passion fruits were
analyzed whose flowers were exposed to different methods of
pollination: the total soluble solids, total titratable acidity and the
relationship between TSS and TTA were not affected by the different
pollination treatments.
3. Results
3.2. Physico-chemical profiles of the fruits
Fig. 1. Average number of seeds in the yellow passion fruits in response to different pollination treatments: (1) 
spontaneous self-pollination; (2) natural pollination, excluding carpenter bees; (3) manual pollination in one stigma; 
(4) manual pollination in two stigmas; (5) manual pollination in three stigmas; (6) natural pollination; (7) natural 
pollination + manual pollination in one stigma; (8) natural pollination + manual pollination in two stigmas and (9) 
natural pollination + manual pollination in three stigmas. Bars on columns represent standard errors. Columns differ
significantly when labeled with different letters (p < 0.01).
Fig. 2. Average biomass of fruit juice of yellow passion fruits in response to different pollination treatments: (1) 
spontaneous self-pollination; (2) natural pollination, excluding carpenter bees; (3) manual pollination in one stigma; 
(4) manual pollination in two stigmas; (5) manual pollination in three stigmas; (6) natural pollination; (7) natural 
pollination + manual pollination in one stigma; (8) natural pollination + manual pollination in two stigmas and (9) 
natural pollination + manual pollination in three stigmas. Bars on columns represent standard errors. Columns differ
significantly when labeled with different letters (p < 0.01).
4. Discussion
4.1. Pollination efficiency and time until harvest
 Flowers that only received small potential pollinators (<6.0 mm) were
not pollinated.
 The findings of this study reaffirm the importance of carpenter bees
in ensuring high rates of fruit production in commercial crops of
yellow passion fruit.
 However, we believe manualpollination should not be completely
ruled out, but instead reduced.
4. Discussion
4.1. Pollination efficiency and time until harvest
 Therefore, the agricultural producer could use this new available
labor to foster shelter and food for pollinators, with the construction
of artificial nests, planting of alternative crops and other potential
methods.
 The time required from anthesis to harvest of the fruit was not
influenced by the pollination treatments.
 The biomass of fresh yellow passion fruits was not influenced by
pollination.
 Pollination did not affect the morphology.
 Normally consumers prefer fruits with thinner skin, but fruits with
thicker skins can be a desirable feature, because it confers greater
resistance to transportation and storage.
4. Discussion
4.2. Physico-chemical profiles of the fruits
 The number of seeds per fruit was influenced by the different
pollination methods.
 Total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA) and the
relationship between TSS and TTA of yellow passion fruits were not
altered by pollination treatments.
4. Discussion
4.2. Physico-chemical profiles of the fruits
5. Conclusions
 Demonstrated that pollination of yellow passion fruit plants is
satisfactory when performed only by the visitation of native bees,
especially the carpenter bees.
 There is no difference in the efficiency of fruit production when one
or more stigmas are pollinated manually, and combining manual
and natural pollination.
 Manual pollination in one stigma produced less seeds and lower
biomass of yellow passion fruits.
5. Conclusions
 When natural pollinators are present, especially carpenter bees,
manual service can be reduced.
 There is no difference in the efficiency of fruit production when one
or more stigmas are pollinated manually, and combining manual
and natural pollination. Manual pollination in one stigma produced
less seeds and lower biomass of yellow passion fruits.
 Farmers can thus potentially reduce their costs of production.
Acknowledgements
 This paper is part of the Senior project (Undergraduate in Agronomy)
of MVS who received a scholarship from the Institutional Program of
Scientific Initiation Scholarships of the Universidade Estadual de
Mato Grosso do Sul. We thank Laura Pereira de Oliveira, Daniel
Makoto Kusano, Elisa Pereira de Oliveira, Lais Luque de Lima,
Jefferson Bittencourt Venancio and Ricardo Fernando Da Rui for
their help during the execution of this research. Special thanks to Dr.
Fernando Cesar Vieira Zanella (UFCG, Brazil) who performed the
taxonomic identification of the carpenter bees. We thank Patty
Ramirez (University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK) for reviewing the
English of this article. We also thank the Cassiano Sousa Rosa
(Universidade Federal de Vic¸ osa, Vic¸ osa, Minas Gerais, Brazil) for
the corrections and suggestions made to the previous version of this
manuscript.
References
 SILVEIRA, M. V.; ABOT, A. R., Is manual pollination of yellow passion 
fruit completely dispensable?. Scientia Horticulturae, Volume 146, 15 
October 2012, Pages 99–103.