Effect of pre-harvest spray of growth substances on fruit drop, yield and quality of Kinnow Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco).
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Date
2023-07-21
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DEPARTMENT OF FRUIT SCIENCE COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE BANDA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY BANDA-210 001 (U.P.) INDIA
Abstract
Citrus is the world leading fruit crop. Kinnow, which is a most flavoured and
aromatic member of Mandarin group, is a hybrid between ‘King’ Mandarin (Citrus nobilis
Lour) and ‘Willow Leaf’ Mandarin (Citrus deliciosa Tenora). Heavy fruit dropping is a great
factor for low productivity of Kinnow Mandarin. The present study entitled “Effect of preharvest spray of growth substances on fruit drop, yield and quality of Kinnow Mandarin
(Citrus reticulata Blanco)” was carried out at experimental orchard in the University
campus, Department of Fruit Science, College of Horticulture, Banda University of
Agriculture and Technology, Banda during 2022-23. Various concentration of four different
plant growth substances, Salicylic Acid (SA, 15 ppm), ZnSO4 (0.5 and 0.25 %), K2SO4 (0.25
%) and Ca(NO3)2 (0.25 %) and their combinations were applied foliarly two times (15th
October and 15thNovember) to study the impact of different treatments on pre-harvest drop,
yield, quality and shelf-life of Kinnow fruit. The results revealed that the pre-harvest
application of SA + ZnSO4 + K2SO4 was most effective among all other treatments to control
pre-harvest drop and increased the fruit yield with enhanced quality. The physical attributes
of the fruit viz. Fruit length and width, fruit weight, volume and juice recovery were also
increased while peel thickness, peel content and rag content were decreased with SA +
ZnSO4 + K2SO4 application. Fruit firmness was found highest with the application of SA +
Ca(NO3)2. The treatments not had any significant effect on the specific gravity and colour
of the fruit. Biochemical parameters viz. TSS, TSS: acidity ratio, sugar, ascorbic acid
content, antioxidants and total phenols were also increased with the treatment of SA + ZnSO4
+ K2SO4, while the titratable acidity was reduced with the same treatment. Pectin content
was increased with the application of SA + Ca(NO3)2. The fruits harvested from the trees
applied with the treatment SA + Ca(NO3)2 + K2SO4 had higher shelf-life as they showed
minimum PLW % and got higher scores in sensory analysis during storage.
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Citation
Abhishek Pratap {2023} Effect of pre-harvest spray of growth substances on fruit drop, yield and quality of Kinnow Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco)., M.Sc (Ag.), DEPARTMENT OF FRUIT SCIENCE COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE BANDA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY BANDA-210 001 (U.P.) INDIA