Oxytetracycline Aids Fruit Quality for Some Scions

A presenter at the recent Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo said oxytetracycline (OTC) trunk injections improved fruit quality in several citrus scions that were studied. The presenter was John Chater, assistant professor and citrus genetic improvement horticulturist with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center.

Chater opened his presentation with these take-home messages:

• OTC trunk injection can positively affect fruit juice quality of OLL-8 scions on different rootstocks.
• OTC can affect fruit quality of fresh market selections.
• Often OTC effects are not statistically significant, but effects may be meaningful to growers depending on economics.
• Some rootstock-scion combinations were not affected by trunk injections.

Chater shared these specifics on OTC trunk injection:

• OTC trunk injection improved OLL-8 ratio.
• OTC trunk injection improved pounds solids in OLL-8 sweet orange.
• OTC increased Brix and ratio in OLL-20 on UFR-4 rootstock.
• OTC positively affected Brix and/or ratio for 914, Sugar Belle, Greenie, Marathon, OLL-4, OLL-6, OLL-10, OLL-20, B9-65 Valencia and other unreleased accessions (711, 12-2-33, etc.).
• OTC positively affected size and/or weight for 950, Sugar Belle, Bingo, Greenie, Marathon, OLL-4, B9-65 Valencia and other unreleased accessions.
• OTC trunk injection positively increased Bingo fruit weight.
• OTC trunk injection positively affected Bingo fruit size.

Chater presented the following conclusions:

• OTC trunk injection improves ratio and pounds solids of OLL sweet orange budlines and can help fruit loads pass market testing.
• OTC trunk injection has potential to increase fresh market quality traits, such as individual fruit size and weight in the HLB environment.
• Economic analyses are crucial to determine economic impacts of OTC.
• More data are needed for growers, packers and processors.

For more details, see Chater’s Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo PowerPoint presentation.

Get UF/IFAS recommendations for OTC trunk injection here.