The cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale L.) is a plant of great importance for the Brazilian Northeast Region, due to the diversity of products generated for the fruit and peduncle and the amount of generated jobs. Despite this, there is no standardization in the cropping systems presently used, with negative consequences in the yield and quality of the raw material for consumption and for industry. The conversion of traditional orchards to the integrated fruit production systems will contribute to minimize this scenery. The objective of this work was to compare the integrated fruit production (IFP) and conventional cropping production (CP) systems in dwarf cashew orchard, as to apple quality. The experiment was installed in a commercial orchard, located in Beberibe Country, State of Ceará, Brazil, in an area of 1.0 hectare, where the IFP and CP systems had been developed. Each system had occupied 0.5 hectare, separated by five crop lines of plants. In the IFP system, cropping practices were applied according to the Legal Marks of Integrated Fruit Production in Brazil. In CP system, cropping practices were applied accordingly with common used by local growers. Apple color, firmness, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), vitamin C content and pH were evaluated. For these variables, means were estimated from twelve samples obtained in both treatments, which were compared by test t (P<0.05). For the TA and vitamin C content variable, the IFP system was significantly superior to the CP ones. For the pH variable, a significant difference was observed between the averages of the systems, being the value gotten in the CP superior to the one of the IFP. The cashew apples obtained in the IFP system showed better quality. The post-harvest quality of the cashew apples had been influenced by the production systems.
Anacardium occidentale L.; integrated fruit production; post-harvest quality
