Table 3.

The influence of leaf area on carbohydrate availability and the rate of accumulation of dry matter in fruitlets of Salustiana sweet orange

				Carbohydrates in leaves
Date of measurement and treatment	Leaf area (dm2)	Dry weight of fruits (g)	DM accumulation in fruits (mg d–1)	Starch (%)	Sucrose (%)
Initial value (15 June)	–	3·6 ± 0·2	–	7·3 ± 0·8	4·0 ± 0·1
Final values (27 July)
40 leaves	5·0 ± 0·4	10·0a	152a	4·7a	4·1bc
30 leaves	3·4 ± 0·6	9·0b	129b	4·9a	4·6ab
20 leaves	2·2 ± 0·3	6·4c	90c	4·6a	3·8cd
10 leaves	0·9 ± 0·02	5·3d	40d	3·4b	3·4d
s.e.		0·3	7	0·16	0·2

Shoots with a single fruit were girdled on 15 June above the number of leaves indicated. Measurements were performed on 27 July. Values are means of ten fruitlets or two independent leaf samples (± s.e.)

Values within a column followed by different superscripts differ at P ≤ 0·05 (Duncan’s multiple range test).