Crop load affects incidence of bitter pit and calcium contents in 'Gamhong' apple fruit

The rate of bitter pit incidence and the mineral contents of fruit in 'Gamhong' apple fruit were investigated according to the controls of three different crop loads. The rate of bitter pit incidence tended to be higher and more frequent when the crop loads were getting less. As the crop loads became less, the fruit size became larger and contained the higher soluble solids and acid contents, but firmness got lower. As the crop load increased, however, the Ca concentration of the fruit was higher, and the concentrations of K and Mg were lower in the peel and the outer cortex. The K/Ca, the Mg/Ca, and the (K+Mg)/Ca of the peel and the outer cortex were higher as the crop load got less, but any consistent tendency was not observed in the inner cortex and the core.