Nectarine Fruit Ripening and Quality Assessed Using the Index of Absorbance Difference (𝐼_AD)

Table 6

Average of fruit ripening stage (𝐼_AD) in the hand-thinned and unthinned treatments, in the three canopy layers (B, M, and T), at 68, 75, 82, and 89 DAFB (“SF26”).

DAFB	Layer	Hand-Thinned; (ripening-𝐼AD)			Unthinned; (ripening-𝐼AD)
	B	1.84	b^z	A^y	1.99	a	A
68	M	1.82	b	A	1.96	a	A
	T	1.89	a	A	1.91	a	A
	B	1.64	b	A	1.76	a	A
75	M	1.64	b	A	1.71	a	A
	T	1.66	a	A	1.69	a	A
	B	1.33	b	A	1.58	a	A
82	M	1.28	b	A	1.48	a	A
	T	1.18	b	A	1.45	a	A
	B	0.92	b	A	1.29	a	A
89	M	0.72	b	A	1.28	a	A
	T	0.88	b	A	1.21	a	A

zSmall letters represent significant differences between fruit densities within the same canopy layer (B, M, and T) at 𝑃<0.05.
^yCapital letters represent significant differences between canopy layers within the same fruit density (hand thinned or unthinned) at 𝑃<0.05.