Effect of foliar spray of silicon and boron on fruit quality and shelf life of rejuvenated mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Sonpari

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Regional Horticultural Research Station, ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, during two continuous years 2017-18 and 2018-19 to examine the effect of different silicon and boron sources on fruit quality and shelf life of mango cv. Sonpari under South Gujarat conditions. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design with factorial concept having ten treatment combinations comprising five levels of silicon and two levels of boron. The first foliar spray was given at full bloom stage and second at pea stage of mango fruits. Result from the study is revealed that use of foliar spray of potassium silicate @ 1.5% (S3) improved fruit quality of mango with respect to higher value of total soluble solids (21.62 ºBrix), reducing sugars (5.70%), non-reducing sugars (9.99%), total sugars (15.69%) and maximum shelf life of fruits (17.33 days) with minimum acidity content (0.146%) in pooled analysis. Likewise, foliar spray of boric acid @ 1.2g L-1 (B2) also gave significantly higher TSS, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars, total sugars, ascorbic acid, total carotenoid content and enhancing shelf life with minimum acidity content of mango fruits cv. Sonpari. Combined spray of potassium silicate @ 1.5% + boric acid @ 1.2g L-1 (S3B2) improved reducing sugars and total sugars with minimum acidity content of fruits.