The strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch.) is a commercially important crop with high water requirements, making strategies that mitigate the influence of water deficits on plant growth necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of shading on the vegetative growth of strawberry cv. Sweet Ann under a water deficit. The treatments consisted of the combination of two levels of shading (light intensity reduced by 47% vs. non-shaded plants) and two levels of water availability (water deficit vs. well-watered plants). The water deficit reduced the leaf water potential from −1.52 to −2.21 MPa, and diminished stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate (from 9.13 to 2.5 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹), maximum quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry (from 0.79 to 0.67), and biomass accumulation, but increased the electrolyte leakage. The shading allowed the water-deficient plants to maintain water potential (−1.58 MPa) and photosystem II efficiency (0.79) and to increase water use efficiency (from 14.80 to 86.90 µmol CO₂/mmol H₂O), net photosynthetic rate (from 2.40 to 9.40 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹) and biomass of leaves, crowns, and roots, as compared to the non-shaded plants without a water limitation. These results suggest, for the first time in strawberry, that a reduction in incident light intensity attenuates the effects of stomatic and non-stomatic limitations caused by a water deficit during vegetative growth in strawberry.

El cambio y la variabilidad climática incrementan los periodos de lluvias, generando inundaciones y/o anegamientos, los cuales impactan en el desarrollo fisiológico de las especies cultivadas. En lulo, aunque se recomienda su siembra bajo penumbra, se estudió el efecto del estrés por anegamiento en condiciones de sombrío bajo invernadero. Las plantas de lulo, de 10 semanas de edad, fueron sembradas en materas de plástico de 5 L con un sustrato suelo y arena cuarcítica en proporción 1:1 v/v, se determinó el efecto de 65% sombrío en los cuatro periodos del anegamiento de 0, 3, 6 y 9 días, más 9 días de recuperación c/u, sobre el desarrollo de la biomasa de planta y las raíces. El sombrío disminuyó la acumulación de biomasa en todos los órganos vegetativos, especialmente en las hojas (-22,7%). No se presentaron interacciones entre el sombrío y el anegamiento. La raíz resultó ser el órgano más afectado por los periodos de mayor anegamiento (6 y 9 días), con reducciones del diámetro del cuello radical, longitud de raíz pivotante y del volumen y peso seco de raíz, mientras que, en consecuencia, la relación de biomasa entre la parte aérea y la raíz se aumentó. Durante el periodo de recuperación de 9 días persistió el efecto negativo de la privación del oxígeno en la rizósfera y, más bien, se agravó todavía más para los variables volumen y longitud de la raíz.

Commercially grown fruit crops in the high tropical Andes zones from 1,600 to 3,200 m a.s.l. are increasingly important in the world market, mainly because they are exotic fruits, and also because they are produced by hundreds of small growers. Photosynthesis is one of the most important physiological processes involved in the production and quality of fruit crops. However, many aspects of this process are unknown in fruit species grown in the Andean highlands. This systematic review presents the main themes and advances in research on photosynthesis of Andean fruit crops. A systematic literature search was carried out in the Scopus and Web of Science databases using the RStudio Bibliometrix package tool and VOSviewer version 1.6.16 software. Research on this topic has focused on high tropical Andean countries with climatic conditions for the growth of fruit species. Notably, the research addresses themes related to the photosynthesis of Andean highland fruit crops in Brazil and Colombia. The authors cover research topics from horticulture and plant physiology to photosynthesis and leaf anatomy and acclimation, where most research literature currently focuses. In most of the analyzed fruit crops, photosynthetic parameters such as maximum photosynthesis (Amax), light compensation point, light saturation point, and apparent quantum yield are known. These are important advances in the knowledge of the fluorescence of chlorophyll a, which is mainly used as a tool to characterize the eco-physiological response of these fruit species to different environments.

Persea americana, cv. Hass has become an important crop in Colombia due to increased exports to European markets; however, the avocado is a climacteric fruit sensitive to chilling injury, reducing its shelf-life and affecting commercialization abroad. This research aimed to evaluate the effect of 1-methylcyclopropene, ethylene, and intermittent warming on chilling injury and postharvest behavior of avocado cv. Hass. Five treatments were evaluated: Control; Intermittent warming cycles of 4 days at 2 °C + 1 day at 18 °C; Intermittent warming cycles of 7 days at 2 °C + 1 day at 18 °C; 1-methylcyclopropene, and ethylene. The fruits were stored for 29 days at 2 °C and then up to 14 days in the shelf-life period. The intermittent warming treatment 4-days cycles reduced chilling injuries. However, this treatment increased weight loss, respiration, epidermal color index, and electrolyte leakage during the storage period at 2 °C. Intermittent warming showed that Hass avocado fruit ripens faster, regardless of the application of ethylene in the shelf-life period. The results indicated that intermittent warming reduced the chilling injury, the treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene delayed ripening but it is not recommended for avocado cv. Hass when stored at 2 °C because the chilling injury is not reduced.

Strawberry ( Fragaria ×ananassa Duch.) is a commercially important crop with high water requirements, for which it is necessary to find strategies that mitigate the influence of water deficit on plant growth. This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of shading on the vegetative growth of strawberry cv. Sweet Ann under water deficit. The treatments consisted of the combination of two levels of shading (light intensity reduced on 47% vs. non-shaded plants) and two levels of water availability (water deficit vs. well-watered plants). The water deficit reduced the leaf water potential from −1.52 to −2.21 MPa, and diminished stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate (from 9.13 to 2.5 μmol m ⁻² s ⁻¹ ), photosystem II photochemical efficiency (from 0.79 to 0.67), and biomass accumulation, while increased the electrolyte leakage. The shading allowed the water-deficient plants to maintain water potential (−1.58 MPa) and photosystem II efficiency (0.79) and to increase water use efficiency (from 14.80 to 86.90 μmol CO ₂ /mmol H ₂ O), net photosynthetic rate (from 2.40 to 9.40 μmol m ⁻² s ⁻¹ ) and biomass of leaves, crowns, and roots compared to non-shaded plants without water limitation. These results suggest that a reduction in incident light intensity attenuates the effects of stomatic and non-stomatic limitations caused by water deficit during vegetative growth of strawberry.