Qualidade de 13 cultivares de melão (Cucumis melo L.) do tipo Branco do Ribatejo e Pele de Sapo em Évora, Almeirim e Amareleja

Mestrado em Engemharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de Agronomia In order to develop technical guidelines for melons production with the objective to obtain high quality fruits, 13 melon cultivars (Cucumis melo L.) var. Inodorous, were evaluated. ‘Lusíada’, ‘Lusitano’, ‘HB06921’ and ‘HB71506’ are white melons and ‘Iberico’, ‘5 Jotas’, ‘Fitor’, ‘Havana’, ‘Hidalgo’, ‘Kanela’, ‘Ruidere’, ‘Sancho’ and ‘Seda’ are Pele de Sapo type or green melons. The trials were located at Évora, Almeirim, Amareleja regions, with different soil and climate conditions and dissimilar production techniques. Melons were evaluated regarding their physical characteristic as weight, length, diameter, firmness and colour and chemical parameters as total soluble solids (TSS- ºBrix), titratable acidity, vitamin C and total phenols. Altogether Pele de Sapo melons produced in Amareleja obtained the highest Brix 13.7% in average, and the sweetest melons were ‘Hidalgo’ with an average Brix of 15.7% and ‘Ruidere’ with 15.5%. The Brix of the white melons produced in Almeirim did not exceed, 12% and the fruits considered unmarketable by Pingo Doce. Vitamin C and total phenols content was not different between cultivars or locals, accounting for 17 mg and 34,4 mg, per 100 g of edible part, respectively