Effect of NAA and ZnSO4 on Cracking and Chemical Properties of Litchi Fruits

Abstract

An experiment was carried out in the Garden, Department of Fruit Science, C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur (U.P.) during two subsequent years i.e., 2022 and 2023 to assess the effect of NAA and ZnSO4 on cracking and chemical properties of litchi fruits. The study consisted of sixteen treatments, incorporating varying levels of NAA (0, 25, 50, and 75 ppm), zinc sulphate (0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6%), and their combinations, which were administered in a Factorial-CRD design. The foliar application of treatments was done on January 28 and March 16 of both years i.e., in 2022 and 2023, before flowering and fruit setting at pea stage on 63-year-old plants of litchi cv. Rose Scented. The results of the study indicated that plants treated with the combination of NAA @ 50ppm and zinc sulphate @ 0.4% resulted in the significantly lowest number of cracked fruit (1.23 and 1.19) and fruit cracking percent (6.31 and 6.15 %) with significant improvement in chemical property parameters of fruits such as juice content (63.63 and 64.22%), TSS (18.09 and 18.380Brix), total sugars (15.96 and 16.30%), titratable acidity (1.32 and 1.28%), TSS: acid ratio (13.67 and 14.31), sugar: acid ratio (12.04 and 12.66), ascorbic acid (41.22 and 41.64 mg/100g pulp) and organoleptic test (83.36 and 82.82) throughout the investigation years in the plains of Northern India.