Biochemical Changes in Berry Development in the Cardinal Grape, Vitis vinifera, L.

Abstract

The Cardinal grape cultivar is widely cultivated, especially in California and Arizona. This cultivar sets both seeded and seedless (shot) berries on the same cluster, which poses a problem in grading and packing for marketing. Investigations were conducted in an attempt to solve it. Maleic hidrazide, indoleacetic acid, gibberellic acid, and the removal of 0.64 cm from the floral apex did not reduce the number of shot berries, when applied at prebloom or at 50% bloom. There were highly significant differences in nucleic acid content between the prebloom, full bloom, 2 weeks after full bloom, and ripe stages. There were no significant differences between the sections of the cluster at the same growth stages. There were significant differences on protein content between the four growth stages. There were no significant differences between the sections of the clusters.