Table 5.

The effect of rootstock and crop load interaction on the accumulation of soluble sugars in “Ligol” and “Auksis” buds (mg g⁻¹. FW).

Treatment	“Ligol”			“Auksis”
	Glu	Fru	Sorb	Glu	Fru	Sorb
M.26 (75)	2.02 a*	0.21 ab	0.42 a	0.97 bcde	0.10 cd	1.76 cde
M.26 (113)	1.02 bc	0.10 de	0.18 bc	1.08 bcde	0.12 bcd	1.99 bcde
M.26 (150)	0.59 cde	0.06 e	0.19 bc	2.31 a	0.13 bc	2.39 abcd
M.9 (75)	0.99 bc	0.22 a	0.21 b	0.39 de	0.08 cd	1.25 ef
M.9 (113)	0.38 de	0.18 abcd	0.08 d	0.90 bcde	0.12 bcd	1.68 def
M.9 (150)	1.23 b	0.28 a	0.27 b	0.28 e	0.05 d	0.72 f
B.396 (75)	0.71 cd	0.18 abcd	0.22 b	1.32 bc	0.19 ab	2.70 abc
B.396 (113)	0.57 cde	0.22 a	0.21 b	1.64 ab	0.21 a	3.16 a
B.396 (150)	0.89 bc	0.05 e	0.19 b	1.23 bcd	0.19 ab	3.24 a
P 67 (75)	0.88 bc	0.20 abc	0.23 b	1.17 bcde	0.22 a	3.05 a
P 67 (113)	0.22 e	0.07 e	0.09 cd	0.56 cde	0.11 bcd	1.20 ef
P 67 (150)	0.84 bcd	0.05 e	0.22 b	0.45 cde	0.08 cd	1.19 ef
P 22 (75)	0.65 cde	0.10 de	0.25 b	0.40 de	0.09 cd	1.18 ef
P 22 (113)	0.75 cd	0.12 bcde	0.21 b	2.23 a	0.18 ab	2.94 ab
P 22 (150)	0.70 cd	0.11 cde	0.23 b	0.58 cde	0.10 cd	1.69 de
Effect of rootstock
M.26	1.21 a	0.12 b	0.26 a	1.45 a	0.12 bc	2.05 b
M.9	0.87 b	0.23 a	0.18 bc	0.52 c	0.08 c	1.22 c
B.396	0.72 b	0.15 b	0.21 bc	1.40 a	0.20 a	3.03 a
P 67	0.64 b	0.11 b	0.18 c	0.73 bc	0.14 b	1.81 b
P 22	0.70 b	0.11 b	0.23 ab	1.07 ab	0.12 b	1.94 b
Effect of crop load
75	1.05 a	0.18 a	0.26 a	0.85 b	0.14 ab	1.99 a
113	0.59 c	0.14 b	0.15 c	1.28 a	0.15 a	2.19 a
150	0.85 b	0.11 b	0.22 b	0.97 ab	0.11 b	1.86 a

*The different letters on the same column indicate significant differences between treatments, rootstock and crop load separately. The analysis was conducted with all data resulting from 9 trees of “Ligol” and “Auksis” apple trees grafted on M.26, M.9, B.396, P 67, and P 22, with crop-load adjusted to 75, 113, and 150 fruits per tree. The data were processed analysis of variance (ANOVA), the Turkey (HSD) multiple range test at the confidence level p = 0.05.

Glu, glucose; Fru, fructose; Sorb, sorbitol.