Greater Sunlight Exposure during Early Fruit Development Increases Polyphenol Concentration, Soluble Solid Concentration, and Fruit Mass of Cider Apples

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript investigated how the influence of light exposure of cider apple in the secondary metabolites production. The authors proposed some exposure to light, conducted a review of the literature, and compare the results. The work is well-explained, and the results and discussion are concise. The references section must be revised. For this reason, I suggest the manuscript can be published after minor revisions.

In the introduction, the authors conducted succinctly a review about the thematic, dealing with the influence and uses of cider apples in the industry, approaching the physical-chemical properties linked to the quality of the fruits. The authors cited the influence of secondary metabolites in plants, especially in apple ciders. The introduction is concise but needs to increase the quality of the connection between sunlight and the production of secondary metabolites linked to climate conditions. I suggest to the authors to reformulate mainly l.70-81.

The materials and methods section is comprehensive and descriptive. I strongly suggested the Methodology must be approached by proper references. Please cite references from the literature to fundament the methods.

-On p. 3 l.98, please correct the name of the specie.

- On p. 5 l. 193, how fine is the powder produced? Is the powder pass by sieves?

- On p. 5 l. 194 please insert the brand and origin of the solvents.

- On p. 5 l. 196 please insert the brand and origin of the shaker.

The results are well-conducted, and figures and plots presented sufficiently the data. However, the data are too long. I suggest the authors decrease the number of tables in this part of the text.

The discussion section is well-done.

 

References must be entirely revised. Some references are incomplete, and standardization according to instructions to authors must be done. E.g., references 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 45, 46, 49, 50, 53. 

Author Response

The manuscript investigated how the influence of light exposure of cider apple in the secondary metabolites production. The authors proposed some exposure to light, conducted a review of the literature, and compare the results. The work is well-explained, and the results and discussion are concise. The references section must be revised. For this reason, I suggest the manuscript can be published after minor revisions.

In the introduction, the authors conducted succinctly a review about the thematic, dealing with the influence and uses of cider apples in the industry, approaching the physical-chemical properties linked to the quality of the fruits. The authors cited the influence of secondary metabolites in plants, especially in apple ciders. The introduction is concise but needs to increase the quality of the connection between sunlight and the production of secondary metabolites linked to climate conditions. I suggest to the authors to reformulate mainly l.70-81.

More information has been provided on this topic from lines 69-76.

The materials and methods section is comprehensive and descriptive. I strongly suggested the Methodology must be approached by proper references. Please cite references from the literature to fundament the methods.

References have been added for processing of cortex tissue samples, ceptometer use in Experiment 1, and ph/TA analysis.

-On p. 3 l.98, please correct the name of the specie.

Corrected

- On p. 5 l. 193, how fine is the powder produced? Is the powder pass by sieves?

The powder was not sieved. However we mentioned the make and model of the machinery we used to make a powder out of the freeze dried cortex tissue.

- On p. 5 l. 194 please insert the brand and origin of the solvents.

The brand and origins of the solvents has been added.

- On p. 5 l. 196 please insert the brand and origin of the shaker.

The make and model has been added.

The results are well-conducted, and figures and plots presented sufficiently the data. However, the data are too long. I suggest the authors decrease the number of tables in this part of the text.

Tables 3-5 have been moved to supplemental materials.

The discussion section is well-done.

 Thank you

References must be entirely revised. Some references are incomplete, and standardization according to instructions to authors must be done. E.g., references 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 45, 46, 49, 50, 53. 

Reference format has been standardized and corrected.

Reviewer 2 Report

The article "Greater Sunlight Exposure During Early Fruit Development Increases Polyphenol Concentration, Soluble Solid Concentration, and Fruit Mass of Cider Apples" is well written. The English language is correct.

I consider the manuscript can be published after minor correction.

Still, I have a question: Could you provide more explanations why cider-specific quality attributes are represented by high polyphenol concentrations, as you mentioned in the first phrase? (lines 29-30) It would be interesting for the readers if authors will add few more details about this in Introduction section.

Line 336: "at tree WAFB", please correct

Author Response

The article "Greater Sunlight Exposure During Early Fruit Development Increases Polyphenol Concentration, Soluble Solid Concentration, and Fruit Mass of Cider Apples" is well written. The English language is correct.

I consider the manuscript can be published after minor correction.

Still, I have a question: Could you provide more explanations why cider-specific quality attributes are represented by high polyphenol concentrations, as you mentioned in the first phrase? (lines 29-30) It would be interesting for the readers if authors will add few more details about this in Introduction section.

In the following paragraph we go into detail as to how why high polyphenol concentrations are a positive quality attribute for cider apples.

Line 336: "at tree WAFB", please correct

Corrected

 

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript titled Greater Sunlight Exposure During Early Fruit Development Increases Polyphenol Concentration, Soluble Solid Concentration, and Fruit Mass of Cider Apples by Adam D. Karl and Gregory M. Peck is within the aim and scope of Horticulturae. The study describes how shading affects cider apple fruit and juice quality.

The introduction generally describes the composition and functions of polyphenols in cider apple fruits. Although authors should put more emphasis on studies on the effect of light and shading on the physiological processes of the tree and biochemical composition of fruits.

 The introduction section contains very few sources of latest literature.   The only recent reference is from 2018.

The numbering of references is incorrect.

 Methodology describes the design of the experiments well. My recommendation is to add what measurements and biochemical analysis were performed in each experiment.

Plant assimilable radiation PAR should be mentioned in the methodology and not in the results because it is a condition of experiment.

 In this study a large amount of data was obtained in five experiments. Results are presented in high detail.

In chapter 3.1.2. description of the fruit mass increases in the control variant is too long. Data is already shown in the table. This chapter is difficult to understand because experiment 1 and 2 are described together. I would recommend to present it separately.

Table 4 is not found.

The tables and figures in supplemental materials should be indicated to which experiment it refers to.

Discussion and conclusions are adequate to the data presented.

Author Response

The manuscript titled Greater Sunlight Exposure During Early Fruit Development Increases Polyphenol Concentration, Soluble Solid Concentration, and Fruit Mass of Cider Apples by Adam D. Karl and Gregory M. Peck is within the aim and scope of Horticulturae. The study describes how shading affects cider apple fruit and juice quality.

The introduction generally describes the composition and functions of polyphenols in cider apple fruits. Although authors should put more emphasis on studies on the effect of light and shading on the physiological processes of the tree and biochemical composition of fruits.

More information has been provided on this topic from lines 69-76.

 The introduction section contains very few sources of latest literature.   The only recent reference is from 2018.

Another source from 2019 has been added to the introduction. The topics studied in this paper have not been the focus of recent research, emphasizing the need to further investigate the relationship of canopy microclimate and fruit quality for cider production.

The numbering of references is incorrect.

The references have been updated and corrected.

 Methodology describes the design of the experiments well. My recommendation is to add what measurements and biochemical analysis were performed in each experiment.

We describe in detail which measurements were taken in each experiment.

Plant assimilable radiation PAR should be mentioned in the methodology and not in the results because it is a condition of experiment.

PAR is mentioned and described in the Materials and Methods. It is first mentioned on line 160.

 In this study a large amount of data was obtained in five experiments. Results are presented in high detail.

In chapter 3.1.2. description of the fruit mass increases in the control variant is too long. Data is already shown in the table. This chapter is difficult to understand because experiment 1 and 2 are described together. I would recommend to present it separately.

Experiments 1 and 2 are presented together because these experiments are very similar. Reviewer 1 wanted the Results section shortened and presenting these two sections separatey would make it longer. This section has been shortened for clarity, which will make it easier to understand.

Table 4 is not found.

Table 4 has been added but is now Supplementary Table 13.

The tables and figures in supplemental materials should be indicated to which experiment it refers to.

The experiment number has been added to all supplementary material captions and legends.

Discussion and conclusions are adequate to the data presented.

Thank you.