Number of carpels in the pollination efficiency of sour passion fruit

Abstract Passion fruit flowers usually have three carpels, but there are individuals with greater amount of carpels in their reproductive structures and little is known about the influence of this characteristic on this crop. Sour passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims, ‘BRS Sol do Cerrado’ cultivar) plants presenting flowers with three, four and five carpels were evaluated regarding the following characteristics: manual and natural pollination efficiency; frequency of different types of flowers in the orchard; and inclination of styles. Frequencies of flowers with three, four and five carpels were also evaluated in ‘BRS Sol do Cerrado’ genitors. There were no statistically significant differences in pollination efficiency among the different types of flowers, which presented averages above 90%, especially flowers with five carpels, with 100% efficiency. Flowers with three carpels are predominant in ‘BRS Sol do Cerrado’ cultivar, representing 88.93%, but flowers with four and five carpels did not show styles without inclination, whereas flowers with three carpels presented rate of 11.83%. Only the male genitor stands out for the rate of flowers with four and five carpels, being 37.33% and 7.33%, respectively. Thus, flowers with four and five carpels represent important characteristics for passion fruit breeding programs.