YIELD, FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS AND KEEPING QUALITY OF MELON (Cucumis melo L.) IN RELATION TO K AND CA FOLIAR APPLICATION | ||||
| Journal of Plant Production | ||||
| Article 17, Volume 30, Issue 6, June 2005, Page 3397-3412 PDF (1.01 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jpp.2005.237405 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| S. A. Gaafar,1; M. S. Emam2 | ||||
| 1Protected Cultivation Research Department. Hort. Res. inst. Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt. | ||||
| 2Postharvest and Handling of Vegetable Crops Research Department, Hort. Res. Inst.. Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This study was carried out at "Rafah" district in North Sinai governorate during 20022003 and 2003i2004 seasons, to investigate the effect of preharvest foliar application with calcium and potassium on the yield, fruit characteristics and storageability on three cultivars of melon, Galia. Passport and Clandio and the results are summarized as follows : - Passport cv gave higher vegetative growth (leaf numberfplant, leaf area) than the other cultivars (Galia and Clandio}. The same trend was recorded with average frurt weight. Both Galia and Passport cvs gave earlier yield than Clandio cv. Passport cv had bigger fruit longitudinal and equatorial diameters than those of Gaiia and Clandio. At the same time, Passport cv had the lowest flesh firmness and lower calcium content in fruit. Meanwhile, no significant differences between the three cultivars on TSS%, total sugars and titratable acidity, were noticed. - Potassium andior calcium foliar application led to or significant increase in plant height, number of leaves/plant and plant leaf area compared with the untreated control fruits. Such increase in vegetative growth, lead to Increase the average fruit weight and both total and early yield. - Foiiar application treatment with potassium and/or calcium increased fruit longitudinal, equatorial diameter, flesh thickness and flesh firmness and improved the fruit characters via increasing total soluble solids, total sugar, titratable acidity and potassium, calcium concentration in the fruit. - Regarding to storageability, Galia melon showed the lowest values of weight loss and decay incidence percentage, whereas the highest values were obtained for Passport cv. Moreover, Galia cv had higher flesh firmness, TSS, total sugar and titratable acidity compared with the other used cultivars. - Calcium foliar spraying was the most effective treatment in minimizing the weight loss and decay percentage and had a significant effect on retaining a higher flesh firmness. Potassium foliar spraying resulted significantly in higher T58 and total sugar contents compared with untreated fruits control. - Weight loss and decay percentage increased with the prolongation of the storage period but flesh firmness as well as TSS, total sugar and titratable acidity contents were decreased with increasing the period of storage. It can be stated that, Galia melon plants, treated with K andfor Ca foliar application is recommended for improving fruit characteristics during prolonged handling. | ||||
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