Abstract

BARREDA-CASTILLO, José Martín; MENCHACA-GARCIA, Rebeca Alicia  and  MORALES-RUIZ, Verenyce. Presence of metaxenia in fruits 40 days postpollination in Vanilla planifolia Andrews and V. pompona Schiede. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2023, vol.14, n.2, pp.289-293.  Epub June 19, 2023. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v14i2.2973.

The vanilla fruit (Vanilla planifolia Andrews) generates an important economic income; however, the best paid fruits are those of greater length (gourmet type), so strategies are needed to obtain fruits of that type. Given this, one option is the induction of metaxenia, understood as the increase in size of the fruits due to pollination with foreign pollen. In the case of vanilla, pollen of V. pompona Schiede could be used since it is usually a companion species, and its phenology coincides with that of V. planifolia. Cross-pollination between V. planifolia and V. pompona was performed during April 2021, and total length, diameter, weight and shape index were evaluated 40 days later. Influence of foreign pollen was found, manifested in longer and heavier fruits if the flower of V. planifolia was pollinated with pollen of V. pompona, while if the foreign pollen was from V. planifolia in flowers of V. pompona, the fruits were smaller and lighter. Cross-pollination between V. planifolia with V. pompona pollen is an alternative for producers to obtain gourmet-type fruits more easily.

Keywords : Vanilla planifolia; Vanilla pompona; crop.