© 1990 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Energy costs of flowering, fruiting, and cherelle wilt in cacao
R. R. Valle, A.-A. F. De Almeida and R. M. De O. Leite
CEPLAC/CEPEC, Caixa Postal 7, Itabuna, Bahia 45600, Brazil / Received February 18, 1988
Summary
Groups of 14-year-old cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) trees were hand pollinated, pollinated naturally or had their fruits continuously removed. Wilted and non-wilted cherelles
(small fruits) were counted every 2 weeks, fallen flowers were counted weekly and mature pods were harvested monthly from
1983
through 1986. Carbohydrate, lipid and protein contents of wilted cherelles, mature pods and flowers were determined. Continuous
removal of fruits caused a constant initiation of flowers and a significant increase in flowering intensity compared with
the other treatments. The quantity of cherelles in the hand-pollinated trees was significantly greater than in the naturally
pollinated trees. However, the number of mature fruits in both treatments was not statistically different because of increased
cherelle wilting in the hand-pollinated trees. The continuously depodded trees allocated approximately 8 and 5 times more
assimilate to flower production than the hand- and naturally pollinated trees, respectively. The naturally pollinated trees
used only about one third as much energy for the production of flowers and wilted cherelles as the hand-pollinated trees,
but about 1.4 times more energy than the depodded trees. It is concluded that fruit set in cacao is regulated by assimilate
production and that cherelle wilting is the mechanism whereby the tree adjusts production.
