Effect of pre- and post-harvest application of methyl jasmonate on yield and quality of strawberry cv. Nabila
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Date
2020
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Department of Horticulture (Pomology), BAU, Sabour
Abstract
Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch) is a man-made hybrid developed by crossing Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana, which then become one of the most important soft fruits in the world. The fruit is consumed fresh and processed in many different products, making it to be in highly demand due to its rich flavour and aroma, excellent visual and quality. The fruits are not only rich in taste, but also rich in vitamins and minerals to which many people around the globe include it in their daily diet. The crop mainly grows well in temperate region with colder climate, but new technologies and improvements have made it easier and possible to be grown in tropical and subtropical regions like in Bihar as well through the introduction of day neutral cultivars grown in protected condition.
Due to the short shelf life of strawberry fruits, the fruits require special treatments to enhance their post-harvest life and in maintaining their physico-chemical properties during it so as to increase their quality. Different investigations and studies have been performed in strawberry with different chemicals for their improvement in various aspects, may it be in their growth, yield and the quality of fruits. Among different methods and materials/chemicals used, methyl jasmonate has been proven to be one of the best chemicals in improving the quality of strawberry through various researches. The present investigation is focused on the treatment of strawberry with methyl jasmonate in order to improve their growth, yield and biochemical parameters, including their post-harvest life.
The experiment was conducted in Horticulture Garden, Bihar Agricultural College, Sabour in Randomized Block Design with four treatments and five replications for the investigation of growth, physical, yield and biochemical parameters on the fresh fruit, and with ten treatments and three replications for the investigation of biochemical properties during the shelf life of strawberry fruits stored in room temperature. The treatment has been found to have a positive influence in many growth and yield parameters, to which it increased the values of parameters studied as compared to untreated plants. Significant effect of treatment has also been found in almost all the parameters. 0.6 mM MeJA treatment was found to be the most effective in increasing the yield of fruits. The pre- and post-harvest treatment with 0.6 mM MeJA showed the best result in maintaining parameters like TSS, total sugar, ascorbic acid and anthocyanin content during their shelf life, followed by the pre- and post-harvest treatment with 0.9 mM MeJA showing the best result in maintaining parameters like antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content in fruits during their storage period. In case of the losses in weight and decay, the pre- and post-harvest treatment of fruits with 0.9 mM MeJA was found to be the most effective in reducing the rate of losses due to disease or fungal infestation and weight loss.