Differences in Quality of'Red Fuji'Apples at Different Altitude Gradients and Their Relationship With Meteorological Factors
Taking the'Red Fuji'apples picked at four different altitude gradients in Yan'an in October 2023 as the test material,one-way ANOVA,correlation analysis,and random forest analysis were used to study the relationship between the quality of 4 Red Fuji'apples and meteorological factors at different altitude gradients by determining the 10 major quality indexes,such as single-fruit weight,fruit shape index,peeled hardness,soluble solids content,total soluble sugar content,and combining them with meteorological factors,in order to provide reference for the development of apple industry in this region.The results showed that there were significant differences in the appearance and internal quality of fruit at different altitude gradients,among which the difference in sugar-acid ratio was the largest,and the difference in fruit shape index was the smallest.There were different degrees of correlation between each quality index and the four main meteorological factors.The number of hours of sunshine was a common limiting factor for the appearance and internal quality of apples,and the number of hours of sunshine and the amount of daily precipitation were the main limiting factors for the weight of a single fruit,and the average humidity and the amount of daily precipitation were the main limiting factors for the weight of a single fruit.Average humidity and daily precipitation were the main limiting factors for colour,and sunshine hours and average daily temperature were the main limiting factors for apple sugar content.Comprehensive analysis of fruit quality at four altitudes showed that at 1 021-1 220 m above sea level,the fruit had large single fruit mass,high sugar content and balanced nutrition.