Effect of melatonin and gibberellic acid foliar application on the yield and quality of Jumbo blackberry species

Abstract

Not many chemical hormone studies does exist in our country especially in berry fruits. Foliar application of melatonin and gibberellic acid hormones was performed in 2016 and 2017 in order to analyze the effects of different doses of hormone applications on fruit quality and yield. Pheonologic, pomological and some bioactive content analyses of these hormones were studied. According to the research results, while M + GA10 ppm (240.50; 3.9) and M + GA 5 ppm (226.50; 3.6) applications have the highest fruit number and weight (g), the highest fruit size was obtained from GA 5 ppm (21.21 mm fruit length, 16.56 mm fruit width) and M 10 ppm (21.10 mm fruit length, 16.20 mm fruit width) chemical applications in Jumbo blackberry species. The highest values in Ph, soluble solid content (SSC) and titratable acidity averages were obtained from GA 5 ppm (3.69; 10.80; 2.42) and GA 10 ppm (3.68; 10.70; 2.40) applications; the highest total antioxidant activity in bioactive characteristics averages was found in G 10 ppm 143.21 mg/g, the highest total phenolics was identified in G 5 ppm 72.68 ppm/GAE and the highest total flavonoids was determined in G 10 ppm 4925.75 ppm/QE.