TITLE:
Effect of Pre-Harvest Application of Gibberellic Acid on Fruit Quality and Shelf Life of Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco)
AUTHORS:
Pradeep Raj Rokaya, Dilli Ram Baral, Durga Mani Gautam, Arjun Kumar Shrestha, Krishna Prasad Paudyal
KEYWORDS:
Fruit Quality, Gibberellic Acid, Peel Puncture Resistance, Physiological Loss in Weight, Postharvest Shelf Life
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.7 No.7,
May
11,
2016
ABSTRACT: Mandarin (Citrus
reticulata Blanco) is a promising fruit crop gaining popularity for its
human nutrition and economic importance in Nepal. The qualitative losses during
pre-harvest stage hinder the productivity and subsequently shorten the on-tree
storability. An experiment was
conducted to assess the effect of gibberellic acid on quality and shelf life of
the mandarin fruit. GA3 at 10, 20, and 30 ppm as against of control
were evaluated. Observations on fruit weight (g), fruit firmness (kg/cm2),
rind colour (1 - 5 index), juice recovery (%), TSS/acid ratio, PLW (%), decay
loss (%), and ascorbic acid (mg/100 ml) were recorded at three harvesting dates i.e. 20 Nov, 5 Dec, and 20 Dec and storage condition. It has been
revealed that the fruits treated with GA3 at 20 ppm retained higher
fruit weight (128.6 g), more firmness (3.54 kg/cm2), better juice recovery (57.75%), and
greater TSS/acid ratio (21.24) at the end of study (20 December). The PLW was
found less with GA3 at 30 ppm in both ambient (5.17%) and cellar
(6.69%) condition as against untreated fruits (9.52% and 11.76%). Similarly,
the decay loss was minimum in the fruits treated with GA3 at 30 ppm
both with ambient (1.02%) and cellar condition (8.21%) as against control with
ambient (5.54%) and cellar (21.58%).