Course Description
Botanical description, geographic distribution, general culture, and culinary uses of the world's major fruit crops.
Athena Title
INTRO FRUIT CROPS
Prerequisite
(BIOL 1103 and BIOL 1103L) or BIOL 1107-1107L or (PBIO 1210 and PBIO 1210L)
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
1. Introduction to fruit crops is designed to acquaint the student with the taxonomic classification, botanical characteristics, production trends, cultural practices, and nutritional value of the world's major fruit crops. 2. Emphasis is placed on the basic botanical and horticultural concepts related to fruit culture. 3. Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to apply the fundamentals learned to home garden culture of fruits, make practical recommendations for growing fruit crops to others, and have an appreciation of commercial fruit production. 4. The course is divided into five sections: I. Introduction and pome fruits II. Stone fruits III. Small fruits IV. Nuts V. Tropical fruits About 6 lectures are devoted to each of the five units, moving one crop at a time as outlined below [deviations from this are possible, and will be announced in class]. At the end of each unit, we will have a 25-minute quiz covering the previous section. Self-evaluation, in the form of old quiz questions, is available on the web site, allowing you to prepare. There is a comprehensive final at the end of the course which is more general in nature than the quizzes. Final questions focus on similarities and differences between crops among sections, as opposed to quizzes which test your comprehension of the crop information presented within one section.
Topical Outline
Section I - Introduction, Pome fruits Introduction to Fruit Crops Apple Tree training systems - apple as a model crop MLK day - NO CLASS Pear Grafting, Rootstocks, Interstocks - apple and pear as examples Minor pome fruits: quince, pomegranate, mayhaw Pome fruit review Pome fruits quiz, stone fruits intro Section II - Stone fruits The genus Prunus - stone fruits Peach Postharvest handling of fruits - peach as an example Plums Apricot Cherries Minor stone fruits Stone fruits review Stone fruits quiz, small fruits intro Section III - Small fruits Grape Grape Strawberry Brambles Blueberry Currants and gooseberries Minor small fruits: Kiwi, fig, others Small fruits review Small fruits quiz, nuts intro Section IV - Nuts Nut crops - special considerations Pecan Walnut Almond Pistachio Minor nuts: cashew, hazelnut Minor nuts: macadamia, Brazil nut, others Nuts review Nuts quiz, Tropicals intro Section V - Tropical fruits Citrus Citrus Banana Pineapple Mango Palms Papaya Minor tropicals Tropical fruits review Tropical fruits quiz and Final
Syllabus