The effect of ripeness phases on seed and fruit quality  of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Vukašin Popović; Slavoljub Lekić; Biljana Kiprovski; Adam Takač

doi:10.9755/ejfa.2022.v34.i2.2818

Authors

Vukašin Popović Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Maksima Gorkog 30, Novi Sad, Serbia
Slavoljub Lekić Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Nemanjina 6, Belgrade, Serbia.
Biljana Kiprovski Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Maksima Gorkog 30, Novi Sad, Serbia
Adam Takač Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Maksima Gorkog 30, Novi Sad, Serbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.2022.v34.i2.2818

Abstract

A three-year experiment was conducted to determine the influence of ripening, variety and the production year (2017-2019) on seed
and fruit quality of eggplant. The 1000 seed weight, germination capacity, the total protein and oil content of seeds as well as the total
protein and sugar content of fruits were determined in three ripeness phases across three production years. All examined varieties exhibited
significant differences in the weight of 1000 seeds during ripening, which varied from 1.44 to 4.42 g. Seeds extracted from fruits that
reached commercial ripeness did not germinate. As the fruit ripens, its total sugar and protein content decreases, while the reverse is
detected in the case of total protein and oil content of seeds. The full ripeness phase was the optimal time for harvesting fruits to obtain
high germinating seeds.