The effect of fruit position and bagging treatment on Gamboge disorder in mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.)

Abstract

Gamboge disorder has a detrimental effect on mangosteen. The leakage of the gamboge may result from water availability. Thus, modifying the transpiration of the fruit by bagging might minimize the inappropriate leak of the gamboge produced by the fruit. The study’s objective was to understand the relationship between different fruit positions and bagging treatment on the gamboge disorder in mangosteen. The experiment was conducted on 10-years old trees by tagging young fruits, five replicates with two fruit positions (inside and outside), and bagging treatment (no bagging, transparent and black plastic bagging). The result showed that bagging the fruits inside the canopy does not affect fruit mass. However, bagging with transparent and black plastic of the fruits inside the canopy decreases fruit size. The fruit quality improves by black bagging on the inside canopy fruits. These findings demonstrate that bagging fruits outside the canopy lowers their quality. Black bags used to package fruits inside the canopy improve fruit quality. However, the treatment also causes more fruit to fall from the tree and decreases the nutrient content.