THE INFLUENCE OF PRE-HARVEST TREATMENTS ON FRUITS QUALITY OF APPLE CULTIVARS (MALUS DOMESTICA BORKH.)

Abstract

Apples fruit quality is mainly influenced by biotic and abiotic factors. Various possible pomological approaches are able to improve fruit quality and market value. Among these, techniques of fruit bagging and summer pruning have become an integral part of pomological practises in many countries, because it is a safe and eco-friendly technique to protect fruits from multiple stresses, preserving or improving the overall quality. The bagging consists essentially of enclosing a young fruit in a cardboard bag. Isolating the fruit from the external environment protects it during development from mechanical or biotic damage, especially in regions where fruits are prone to attacks by fungi, bacteria, insects and even birds. The expected increasing fruit skin color in comparison to non-bagged fruits can therefore correspond either to a reduction or an increase in color or even a greater homogeneity of the color itself.
 The aim of this research was to determine how the application of post-harvest aids affects the quality of fruits and storage capacity of three cultivars of late-ripening apples (Breaburn, Fuji and Pink Lady). Applying summer pruning and covering apple fruits with cardboard bags has a positive effect on increasing the surface of the complementary color on the skin of the fruit.In addition, the influence of these measures on the physical and chemical properties of the fruits after harvest and storage for a period of four months was examined. The experiment was set up in 2019 in a completely randomized design with five replications in the nine leaves old orchards of the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade. The used pre-harvest treatments influenced the increase in yield, fruit firmness, and chemical composition. The summer pruning of branches four weeks before harvesting significantly improve percentage of fruit skin color to all examined cultivars, while bagging of fruits only had increased of fruit skin to cultivar Breaburn.