Chapter 16 - Preharvest Fruit Bagging for Better Protection and Postharvest Quality of Horticultural Produce

Abstract

Among several good agricultural practices (GAPs), preharvest fruit bagging is becoming very popular in several countries of the world. It is a physical protection technique, which improves fruit appearance by promoting fruit coloration and reducing blemishes. It brings multiple effects to internal fruit quality. Fruit bagging also reduces disease and insect-pest incidence, mechanical damage, sunburn, fruit cracking, agrochemical residues, and damage by birds. Due to such beneficial effects, this GAP has become an integral part of peach, apple, pear, grape, and loquat production in countries like Japan, Australia, China, and the USA, and certain countries, viz., Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, do not import apples if they are not bagged. A number of studies have been conducted the world over to harness the effects of fruit bagging on color and quality of the produce, and different authors have reported contradictory results, which may be due to differences in the type of bag used, the stage of development when the fruit is bagged, the period of exposure to natural light after bag removal (before harvesting), and/or fruit- and cultivar-specific responses.