Pre-harvest foliar application of calcium chloride improves berry quality and storage life of table grape cvs. ‘perlette’ and ‘kings’s ruby’

Abstract

This study was performed to evaluate the
pre-harvest foliar application of calcium chloride on two
grapes varieties ―perlette and king‘s ruby‖. It was
confirmed that calcium chloride improved long term
storage and berry quality of these grapes varieties.
Abstract: Grapes being the most perishable fruit crop need
certain pre-harvest measures to improve berry quality.
Therefore, current study was conducted for the
improvement of early bearing ‗Perlette‘ and ‗King‘s Ruby‘
table grape cultivars by applying pre-harvest sprays of
calcium chloride (CaCl2) concentrations. Table grape cvs.
‗Perlette‘ and ‗King‘s Ruby‘ were sprayed at 15 days‘
interval from fruit set to maturity with different
concentrations of CaCl2 (0, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1.0%) to
evaluate the photosynthetic activity and postharvest
biochemical quality. Pre-harvest sprays of 0.5% and 0.75%
maintained increased net photosynthetic rate (A) in ‗King‘s Ruby‘ and ‗Perlette‘ respectively; whereas transpiration rate
(E) and stomatal conductance (gs) was significantly higher
with 0.75% treatment in both cultivars. Pre-harvest foliar
sprays of 0.5% and 0.75% CaCl2 significantly improved berry
quality with increased berry length and diameter. Postharvest
biochemical quality of ‗Perlette‘ and ‗King‘s Ruby‘ was
considerably improved with higher TSS, TA, ascorbic acid
contents, sugars, total phenolic contents and antioxidants.
These results clearly depicted that pre-harvest application of
different CaCl2 concentrations improved growth, development,
physico-chemical and antioxidative attributes of table grape
cvs. ‗Perlette‘ and ‗King‘s Ruby‘ under long term storage
conditions at 0.5 ± 0.5 °C and 90 % RH for four weeks. ©
2020 Department of Agricultural Sciences, AIOU