Study on the growth curve of the internal cavity of ‘Dwarf green’ coconut fruits

Abstract

The aim of the work was to evaluate the adjustment of the logistic and gompertz model with structure of first-order autoregressive errors in the study on the ‘Dwarf green’ coconut fruit growth based on longitudinal and cross-sectional internal cavity diameter data (DLCI and DTCI). Model adjustments showed positive residual autocorrelation, according to the Durbin-Watson test and for both variables, DLCI and DTCI, the residue was modeled according to first-order autoregressive process (AR1). The analysis was performed using the least squares method in the PROC MODEL of the SAS software and results indicated that for both characteristics under study, the logistic model was the most appropriate in describing fruit growth and, according to the model, fully developed ‘Dwarf green’ coconut fruits have longitudinal and cross-sections internal cavity diameter of approximately 7.39 cm and 7.60 cm, respectively.