Fruit Cracking Research Articles

Nano-calcium alleviates the cracking of nectarine fruit and improves fruit quality

To explore the use of L-aspartic acid nano-calcium (nano-Ca) to reduce nectarine fruit-cracking, we sprayed the crack-susceptible nectarine cultivar ‘Huaguang’ [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch var. nectarina (Ait.) Maxim.] with nano-Ca. The results showed that nano-Ca could reduce the fruit-cracking percentage of nectarine by more than 20%. Nano-Ca was effective because it increased the calcium pectinate content of the peel, reduced the activity of cell-wall metabolic enzymes, and changed the peel structure and enhanced its toughness. We also found that nano-Ca enhanced calmodulin activity in leaves, upregulated key genes of sucrose synthesis in leaves and sucrose transport in stem phloem, and significantly increased the soluble sugar content in the fruit by more than 2%. In addition, Nano-Ca also enhanced calmodulin activity in peel and up-regulated key genes related to anthocyanin-synthesis, promoting anthocyanin accumulation in the peel. The result will lay a theoretical foundation for the physiological and molecular mechanisms of nectarine-cracking and its prevention.

Orchard Net Covers Improve Resistance to Cherry Cracking Disorder.

Orchard net cover improves plant physiology, yield and fruit quality, pest and disease control, and anticipates fruit ripening. Moreover, this crop technology has been used to reduce natural cherry cracking (NCC). This is a serious physiological disorder that cracks the epidermis, the hypodermis, and the storage parenchyma layers of the fruit due to rainfall events near the harvest and it is related to low fruit osmotic potential and/or high fruit water permeability. This work aims to study the effect of orchard net cover on sweet cherry trees, cv. Early Bigi, in two harvesting years (2019 and 2021). The NCC, the induced cracking index (CI), and the cracking type incidence were determined. In addition, epicuticular and intra-cuticular wax content, biometric and physicochemical parameters were also evaluated. Net cover reduced the natural cracking index by 40%. High fruit weight values were observed in covered trees comparing to the control ones, with increases of 45% and 13%, in 2019 and 2021, respectively. A positive correlation was observed between CI and total soluble solids and a negative correlation between CI and wax content. Therefore, with forecasts of worsening heavy precipitation events near harvest, protecting cherry trees with nets will increase resistance to fruit cracking.

The fruit peel anatomy, leaf nutrient content, and fruit quality of ‘Terigas’ mandarin in relation to fruit cracking

‘Terigas’ mandarin is one of the cultivars cultivated in almost all of Indonesia’s provinces. However, this cultivar is prone to cracking, and little research has been conducted on fruit cracking in Indonesia. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of fruit cracking on peel anatomy, leaf nutrient content, and fruit quality in ‘Terigas’ cultivar. A Completely Block Design (CBD) with three replications was used. Results showed that the peel thickness of uncracked with big fruit size was significantly the highest, while epidermis of cracked fruit with big size was the thickest. The largest oil glands size was shown in uncracked fruit with a big size. The leaf that supported uncracked fruit with a big size had the highest Ca content, whereas the lowest Ca content was observed in the leaf that supported cracked fruit with a small size. In contrast, the leaf that supported cracked with a small fruit size had the highest Zn content. Regardless of fruit size, fruit weight, fruit diameter, and pH of uncracked fruit were significantly much higher than cracked ones. Nevertheless, the Total Soluble Acid and vitamin C of cracked fruit were significantly higher than uncracked ones. This study may provide the important keys to the fruit cracking effect, and as a tool to lessen citrus fruit cracking, especially in ‘Terigas’ mandari

Pectate Lyase Gene VvPL1 Plays a Role in Fruit Cracking of Table Grapes

Fruit cracking seriously affects the commercial value of table grapes. To explore whether cell wall disassembly influences grape berry cracking, first, the differences in the cell wall metabolism were compared between cracking-resistant "Shennongjinhuanghou" (SN) and cracking-susceptible "Xiangfei" (XF) varieties. Our results showed that cell wall disassembly events were extremely different between "SN" and "XF." The cracking-resistant "SN" had a higher pectinmethylesterase activity in the early stage and lower polygalacturonase, β-galactosidase, pectate lyase, and cellulase activities from veraison, cooperatively yielding higher ionically bound pectin, covalently bound pectin, hemicellulose, and lower water-soluble pectin, leading to a stronger skin break force and elasticity and conferring "SN" with higher cracking resistance. Furthermore, the function of the VvPL1 gene in fruit cracking was verified by heterologously transforming tomatoes. The transgenic experiment showed that overexpressed fruits had a higher activity of pectate lyase from the breaking stage and a lower level of covalently bound pectin, ionically bound pectin, cellulose, and hemicellulose and a higher level of water-soluble pectin at the red ripe stage, which resulted in a significantly reduced skin break force and flesh firmness and increased fruit cracking incidences. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the cracking susceptibility of the grape berry is closely related to cell wall disassembly events and VvPL1 plays an important role in fruit cracking.

Sunburn and fruit cracking in Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) cv. ‘Rose Scented’

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is originally from southern China, but due to its higher adoptability and profitability, it is being cultivated in India. In India, litchi is harvested and sold during April-May and fruits have nutritional and economical values. Litchi cv. 'Rose Scented' is highly preferred in India for its taste, but sunburn and fruit cracking are a major drawback for its cultivation. Studies were conducted to quantify the severity of sunburn and incidence of fruit cracking. Fruits first affected by sunburn and burnt outer skin or peel or cuticle part, later turned into cracking. So sunburn acted as a predisposition to fruit cracking in ‘Rose Scented’. Thus, sun burn and cracking can be seen in the same fruit. These types (cracked fruit with sunburn) of fruits were 8.26%, 19.58% and 43.25% in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Lower thickness of cuticle and spongy layer and higher temperature of fruit surface in burnt and cracked fruit may be accountable for fruit burning and cracking. A close correlation was observed between sunburn, cracking and weather situation over two months. A positive relationship was found between maximum temperature, sunburn and fruit cracking.

Environmental aspects and microclimate in greenhouses in the republic of Uzbekistan

Over the years, the persistence of pandemics has further increased the population's demand for environmentally friendly products. Greenhouses are a key factor in solving this socio-economic problem. A temperate climate is needed to grow organic produce. This experiment is carried out only in greenhouse complexes. Creating an ecological microclimate in greenhouses in the Republic of Uzbekistan will help to solve these problems. The aim of the study is to create and optimize low-cost ecomicroclimate conditions in greenhouses using natural resources. In the study of ecological microclimate processes in greenhouses, the methods of analysis, synthesis, inductive, monographic research, abstract logic, and other general scientific research are used. The study found that an optimal ventilation system improves climate control and therefore optimize energy consumption, in addition to linking other factors such as airborne carbon concentration, temperature, humidity, which directly affect the growth and development of aerated crops. Ventilation affects the temperature inside the greenhouse, another ecological aspect of the correct and optimized operation of a sustainable greenhouse agroecosystem, as it provides the same air circulation from outside the greenhouse to remove excess heat during high solar radiation found to have a positive effect on quality ; this has been proven to affect quality with a positive effect. To prevent problems such as high heat and evaporation, stress of plant water and physiological diseases, including cracking of fruits, death of flowers and fruits, the temperature of 10, which provides optimal physiological and biochemical processes in plants. A decrease in °C is observed, so their resistance increases. affects plants and the degree of non-loss of yield has been determined. The results of this study were recommended for use as a guideline for all regions with the assistance of the Agency for Horticulture and Greenhouse Development under the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan.

Effect of Water Sprinkling over Tree Canopy on Fruit Cracking, Quality and Yield of Litchi Fruits

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is an important subtropical evergreen fruit crop of Sapindaceae family. Fruit cracking is a serious problem in litchi happen during fruit growth and its development. Fruit cracking affect significant loss of economic yield. Fruit cracking in litchi coincides with a period characterized by high day temperature (35-40°C) and low relative humidity (60%). Effect of water sprinkling over tree canopy on fruit cracking, quality and yield of litchi crop was evaluated under four treatments, namely T1 (4 micro-sprinklers per tree), T2 (3 micro-sprinklers per tree), T3 (2 micro-sprinklers per tree), and T4 (without micro sprinkler) as control. Micro-sprinklers were tested for their hydraulic performance. Result revealed that, minimum fruit cracking, i.e. .20.03, 18.49, 13.76 and 4.55% was observed at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 hours of water sprinkling under treatment T1. Highest yield (i.e. 65.27 q/ha) and better quality of fruits were also found in treatment T1. Contrary to this, maximum fruit cracking (30.16%), lowest yield (33.52 q/ha) and satisfactory quality of fruits were found in treatment T4 (control). Linear relationship between discharge and pressure; and exponential relationship between pressure and wetted diameter were found for performance of micro sprinklers.

Farklı şekillerde yapılan kalsiyum uygulamalarının 0900 Ziraat kiraz çeşidinde meyve kalitesine etkileri

This study was carried out to determine the effects of pre-harvest calcium applications on fruit quality and fruit cracking in "0900 Ziraat” cherry variety. For this purpose, “Codiagro Agroplant” containing 35% CaO (Calcium oxide); by foliar spraying; It has been applied to trees in different applications such as dripping from the soil and leaf + dripping from the soil and spraying. In the study, fruit weight (g), fruit width (mm), fruit length (mm), fruit height (suture) (mm), seed weight (g), amount of water-soluble dry matter (TSS; %), pH and acidity ( %) values, fruit firmness were investigated. In addition, fruit skin and flesh color and fruit stem color values were determined. The highest results were obtained in terms of fruit weight (8,91 g; 8,80 g) in the application made only with leaves and the application made with leaves and soil. Likewise, in the application of calcium made from leaves, the fruit width is 26,73 mm; fruit length was 26,61 mm, fruit height was 24,35 mm and had the highest values. The effect of calcium applications on the TSS %, pH and SSCM of the fruit was found to be statistically insignificant. The hardest fruits were obtained from foliar+soil application (5,15 N). Likewise, the least cracked fruits are in leaf+soil application (cracking index; 7,10). Calcium applications made only from leaves and leaves + soil can be recommended for higher quality fruit in cherries.

Thermo-biomechanical coupling analysis for preventing tomato fruit cracking during ripening

Fruit cracking is closely related to the heat transfer resulting from sunlight, so a thermo-biomechanical coupling three-point bending FE analysis in the tomato pericarp sample was performed. Results showed that the established FE model was capable of reproducing the experimental probe loading force-pericarp deflection and the crack propagation length-pericarp deflection curves in deflection deformation up to 6 mm, with average relative errors of 3.0% and 4.3%, respectively. The propagation area and volume of the crack in pericarp model were gradually sensitive to the temperature gradient acting on the exocarp surface and fruit ripeness. Three obtained linear mathematical models can quantitatively predict the cracking status of the pericarp under different temperature gradient levels when the sunlight caused a uniform temperature increase on the exocarp surface. The tomato had a better anti-cracking ability when the sunlight caused a non-uniform temperature increase on the exocarp surface. This study provides a basis for preventing the cracking of tomato fruit during development by controlling the environment.

Yield and Fruit Quality Response of Pomegranate (Punica granatum) to Foliar Spray of Potassium, Calcium and Kaolin

To study the effect of potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate and kaolin (Aluminum silicate) on pomegranate cv. Wonderful, this study was conducted during 2020–2021 to investigate the possibility of minimizing the percentages of sunburn and fruit cracking and ameliorating the yield and fruit quality of pomegranate during the aforementioned period. Four sprays consisting of potassium nitrate at 1%, 2% and 3%, calcium nitrate at 2%, 3% and 4%, kaolin at 2%, 4% and 6% and water only (control) were sprayed on pomegranate trees during May, July, and August. The results showed that through spraying the fruit at set percentages, fruit yield was greatly increased through the spraying of potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate and kaolin, particularly the application of potassium nitrate at 3% and 4% and kaolin at 6% as opposed to than the other percentages. In addition, the percentages of fruit cracking and sunburn were markedly lessened by the application of calcium nitrate at 4% and 6% and also by kaolin at 6%. Moreover, the fruit content from TSS, total sugars and anthocyanin, was improved through the spraying of potassium nitrate at 2% and 3%, whereas the fruit weight and firmness were improved by the application of calcium nitrate at 4% and kaolin at 6%.

Transcriptional profiling of long non-coding RNAs regulating fruit cracking in Punica granatum L. under bagging.

Fruit cracking tremendously damages the appearance of fruit, easily leads to pathogen invasion, greatly reduces the marketability and causes immense economic losses. The pivotal role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in diverse biological processes has been confirmed, while the roles of lncRNAs underlying fruit cracking remain poorly understood. In this study, the incidence of fruit cracking was 7.26% under the bagging treatment, the control group was 38.11%, indicating that bagging considerably diminished the fruit cracking rate. LncRNA libraries for fruit cracking (FC), fruit non-cracking (FNC) and fruit non-cracking under bagging (FB) in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) were performed and analysed via high-throughput transcriptome sequencing. A total of 3194 lncRNAs were obtained with a total length of 4898846 nt and an average length of 1533.77 nt in pomegranate. We identified 42 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and 137 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEGs) in FC vs FNC and 35 DELs and 160 DEGs in FB vs FC that formed co-expression networks respectively, suggesting that there are involved in phytohormone signaling pathway, lignin catabolic process, lipid transport/binding, cutin biosynthetic process and cell wall organization. We also found that 18 cis-acting DELs regulated 18 target genes, and 10 trans-acting DELs regulated 24 target genes in FC vs FNC, 23 DELs regulate 23 target genes for the cis-acting lncRNAs and 12 DELs regulated 36 target genes in FB vs FC, which provides an understanding for the regulation of the fruit cracking. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis results demonstrated that DELs participated in calcium ion binding, glycerophospholipid metabolism, flavonoid biosynthetic process, cell wall biogenesis, xyloglucan metabolic process, hormone signal transduction and starch and sucrose metabolism. Our findings provide new insights into the roles of lncRNAs in regulating the fruit cracking and lay the foundation for further improvement of pomegranate quality.

Fruit Cracking in Pears: Its Cause and Management—A Review

Pears (Pyrus (Rosaceae, Pyrinae) are among the oldest plants cultivated by humans and the second most widely grown fruit worldwide, after apples. They are commercially important fruit trees; over the last few decades, global area, production, and exports have massively increased. However, fruit cracking at an early stage or at maturity is a severe physiological disorder, causing significant economic losses to pear growers. Fruit cracking may be associated with inadequate irrigation, environmental factors, and nutritional deficiencies, particularly those involving B, Ca, Zn, and potash. Fruits can crack during growth and development due to the abrupt temperature changes between day and night, water imbalances, sun exposure, trellis systems, and the color of the fruit packaging. Cracking is more pronounced when the fruit has reached maturity, and no single factor is known to effectively prevent its occurrence. Although fruit cracking poses the risk of great economic losses, research on its cause and management in pears is limited as compared to other fruit crops. Therefore, examining the occurrence of pear fruit cracking in relation to cultivar genetics, fruit composition and quality, the water levels of the soil and water uptake by plants, and the role of micronutrients and plant growth regulators will aid in the development of strategies to reduce fruit cracking in pears. This review briefly summarizes the causes of fruit cracking in pears and possible control strategies.

Mining candidate genes of grape berry cracking based on high density genetic map

Fruit cracking is a phenomenon in which the peel cracks during grape berry development, which seriously affects the yield and quality of the fruit. However, there are few studies on the mining of candidate genes related to berry cracking. In order to better understand the genetic basis of berry cracking, we used the results of previous quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, combined with field surveys of berry-cracking types and the berry-cracking rate, to mine candidate berry-cracking genes. The results showed that three identical QTL loci were detected in two years (2019 and 2020); and three candidate genes were annotated in the QTL interval. In mature berries, the expressions of the candidate genes were more abundant in the cracking-susceptible parent (‘Crimson Seedless’) than in the cracking-resistant parent (‘Muscat Hamburg’). Grape berry cracking is a complex trait controlled by multiple genes, mainly including genes encoding cellulose synthase–like protein H1, glucan endo-1,3-beta-glucosidase 12, and brassinosteroid insensitive 1-associated receptor kinase 1. The high expression of the candidate berry-cracking genes may promote the occurrence of berry cracking. This study helps elucidate the genetic mechanism of grape berry cracking.

Effect of Foliar Application of Micronutrients on Yield and Quality of Pomegranate

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the response to the foliar application of micro nutrient viz. iron, zinc and boron in single or in different combination on pomegranate in randomized block design with nine treatments and four replications during the mrig bhahar season kharif (June–July flowering time, 2016, 2017 and 2018) at Agriculture Research sub–Station Gonera Kotputli, Jaipur. Rajasthan, India. A perusal pooled data indicated that the different treatments of micronutrients application in pomegranate had significant effect on growth, yield and quality of pomegranate. The micronutrients spraying resulted in higher yield due to increased growth, better flowering and higher fruit set. The early initiation of flowering (44.8 Days), highest fruit set (52.66%), highest number of fruits plant-1 (87.37 fruit plant-1), yield of fruit (20.37 kg plant-1), B:C ratio (2.99), less fruit cracking (3.82%), high TSS (14.83%), low acidity (0.91 %), high TSS/ acid ratio (16.39) and low fruit drop (0.56 %) were observed under spray of ferrous sulphate @ 0.5%+zinc sulphate @ 0.5%+borax @ 0.4% (T8). Whereas control condition T1 late initiation of flowering (49 days), lowest fruit set (42.61%), lowest number of fruits plant-1 (69.75 fruit plant-1), yield of fruit (14.33 kg plant-1), B:C ratio (2.13), high fruit cracking (15.36 %), low TSS (13.45 %), higher acidity (1.48 %), low TSS/ acid ratio (9.09) and higher fruit drop (2.04 %) was recorded.

SlGH9-15 regulates tomato fruit cracking with hormonal and abiotic stress responsiveness cis-elements

Fruit cracking occurs easily during the late period of fruit development when plants encounter an unsuitable environment, dramatically affecting fruit production and marketing. This study conducted the bulked segregant RNA-Seq (BSR) to identify the key regulatory gene of fruit cracking in tomatoes. BSR-Seq analysis illustrated that two regions associated with irregularly cracking were located on chromosomes 9 and 11, containing 127 candidate genes. Further, through differentially expression analysis and qRT-PCR in cracking-susceptible and cracking-resistant genotypes, the candidate gene SlGH9-15 (Solyc09g010210) with significantly differential expression levels was screened. Bioinformatics analysis of the GH9 gene family revealed that 20 SlGH9 genes were divided into three groups. The phylogenetic analysis showed that SlGH9-15 was closely related to cell wall construction-associated genes AtGH9B1, AtGH9B6, OsGH9B1, and OsGH9B3. The cis-acting elements analysis revealed that SlGH9-15 was activated by various hormones (ethylene and ABA) and abiotic stresses. The expression pattern indicated that 13 SlGH9 genes, especially SlGH9-15, were highly expressed in the cracking-susceptible genotype. Its expression level gradually increased during fruit development and achieved maximum value at the red ripe stage. Additionally, the cracking-susceptible tomato showed higher cellulase activity and lower cellulose content than the cracking-resistant tomato, particularly at the red ripe stage. This study identified SlGH9-15 as a key gene associated with fruit cracking in tomatoes for the first time and gives new insights for understanding the molecular mechanism and complex regulatory network of fruit cracking.

Screening of Litchi Genotypes for Fruit Cracking and the Relationship of Cracking to Fruit and Leaf Traits

Screening of Litchi Genotypes for Fruit Cracking and the Relationship of Cracking to Fruit and Leaf Traits

Mining of candidate genes for grape berry cracking using a genome-wide association study

Fruit cracking is a common phenomenon during the growth and development of horticultural crops that seriously affects fruit yield and quality. However, there are few studies on the mining of candidate genes related to berry cracking. To better understand the genetic basis of grape berry cracking, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of grape varieties. Based on the mixed linear model (MLM), we detected five single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci associated with berry-cracking index and two SNP loci associated with berry-cracking type in two years. These loci were mainly distributed on four chromosomes, namely 1, 2, 3, and 18, and were associated with ten unique candidate berry-cracking genes. The gene expression patterns indicated that the candidate genes in the susceptible berry-cracking variety were more abundant than in the resistant berry-cracking variety. Grape berry-cracking is a complex trait controlled by multiple genes, mainly including genes involved in polygalacturonase, copper transporter, and receptor-like proteins. The high expression of the candidate berry-cracking genes may promote the occurrence of berry cracking, so the present study helps to further elucidate the genetic mechanism of berry cracking.

Magnetized Water and Proline to Boost the Growth, Productivity and Fruit Quality of ‘Taifi’ Pomegranate Subjected to Deficit Irrigation in Saline Clay Soils of Semi-Arid Egypt

Water scarcity is becoming a global problem. The shift from traditional irrigation systems to deficit irrigation increased soil salinity, particularly in clay soils. The use of magnetized water (MW) and biostimulants can induce plant resistance to drought and salinity stress. To assess the role of MW and proline (P) on ‘Taifi’ pomegranate shrubs’ growth, productivity, and fruit quality under such conditions, a split-plots experiment was conducted for two seasons using three irrigation levels (100%, 75%, and 50%), based on the crop water requirements (CWR), and four treatments including foliar spray of tap water (control) and P, irrigation with MW, and MW + P. The most pronounced effect was referred to MW + P at 75% CWR that improved shrubs’ chlorophyll content and nutritional status, reduced endogenous proline content, and enhanced vegetative growth with minimum consumptive water use (CWU), optimum water use efficiency (WUE), maximum water productivity (WP), utmost yield and average fruit weight, lowest percentage of fruit cracking, and fairly good total soluble solids (TSS), vitamin C and anthocyanin contents. Overall, MW + P at 75% CWR improved the resistance mechanism of pomegranate shrubs in saline clay soils, plus improving the growers’ net profit. MW generally reduced soil salinity, expressed as reduced pH, EC, Na+, and Ca2+ values.

Physiological and biochemical mechanisms of fruit cracking: A review

Fruit cracking is a serious physiological disorder that affects fruit quality and productivity. It is a pre-harvest disorder that results in poor quality of fruits; these are not marketable and cause economic losses to growers. Generally, fruit cracking occurs during the second phase of fruit growth when expanding pulp induces pressure to peel and peel becomes thinner and microcracks appear, ultimately fruit splits and drops off from tree. Several factors that contribute to fruit cracking are irregular water supply, heavy crop load, warm-humid climatic conditions, nutrient mis-management and hormonal imbalance. Cultivars having thinner peels and deficiency of Ca, K, B and P in soils are more prone to fruit cracking. This review provides the physiological and biochemical basis of fruit cracking along with recommended control measures to reduce this disorder. Foliar application of synthetic auxins, gibberellins and minerals (Ca, Zn, P and B) at different time intervals for different species to significantly reduce fruit cracking is included in this review. Further molecular studies need to be proposed to study the actual mechanism of cracking through function of genesand biotechnological approaches can be followed so that cracking resistant varieties are produced

Role of Brassinolide in Fruit Growth, Development, Quality and Cracking of Litchi Cv. Bombai Grown in New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal

Bombai’ is a popular litchi variety of West Bengal but susceptible to fruit cracking which reduces the market price. Till now numbers of research trial conducted in litchi with different chemicals but reports on impact of application of brassinolide in reduction of fruit cracking maintaining quality attributes are limited. Therefore, an experiment was conducted during January-May of 2019–20 at the Experimental Farm of Horticultural Research station, Mondouri, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidayala, Nadia, West Bengal, India to evaluate the effect of different dose of brassinolide on fruit yield, quality and reduction of cracking in litchi. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design comprising five treatments of brassinolide [T1: Brassinolide (0.5 mg l-1), T2: Brassinolide (1.0 mg l-1), T3: Brassinolide (1.5 mg l-1), T4: Brassinolide (2.0 mg l-1) and T5: Control (water spray)] with four replication/treatment. The solutions were applied two times; first before anthesis and another at 15 days after anthesis. Result revealed that brassinolide increased the number of fruits per panicle and significantly increased individual fruit weight, length, diameter, and yield. Among different treatments, brassinolides at 1 mg l-1 (two-time application i.e., 15 days before and after anthesis) is identified to be superior considering all qualitative aspects i.e., maximum fruit weight (26.40 g), fruit length (5.15 cm) and yield (95.88 kg plant-1). This treatment also exhibited maximum TSS (21.22°Brix), total sugar (14.11%), ascorbic acid (37.42 mg 100 g-1) and anthocyanin (23.13 mg 100 g-1) content with minimum (9.12%) fruit cracking. The control treatments registered minimum values for all parameters.