Influence of pre-harvest spray of salicylic acid and Jasmonic acid on fruit quality and postharvest behaviour of papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. red lady

Abstract

To study the effect of preharvest spray of plant elicitors at flowering on shelf life and fruit quality parameters of papaya, was planned at Horticultural Research station, anantharajupeta, railway kodur, Andhra Pradesh during 2015-16 and 2016-17 with the application of different concentrations of salicylic acid (50 ppm, 100 ppm, 150 ppm), jasmonic acid (50 µM, 100 µM, 150 µM) once at 50 Days After Anthesis and twice at 50 Days After Anthesis and 75 Days After Anthesis and control (no spray). Among various treatments, foliar spray of salicylic acid (150 ppm) at 50 and 75 DAA (T9) recorded the lowest physiological loss in weight (11.89%) of fruits which stood at par with T8 (12.05%) even at 12 days after storage. The positive influence of T9 and T8 was also observed in extending the shelf life of papaya fruits over control during storage. The quality attributes such as total sugars, reducing sugars, non reducing sugars, and sugar-acid ratio showed an increasing trend up to 9 days after storage and decreased further.