Effect of foliar application of zinc and boron on quality of pineapple cv. Mauritius

Abstract

The present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of different levels of boron and zinc on quality attributes of pineapple cv. Mauritius at Horticultural farm, Department of Horticulture and Post-Harvest Technology, Palli Siksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, west Bengal during 2015 to 2016. The experiment was laid out in Randomized block design with nine treatments and replicated in three times, considering ten plants as a unit. The treatments comprising two levels of each zinc sulphate hepta hydrate (viz. @ 0.5% and @ 1.0 %), borax (viz. @ 0.5% and @ 1.0 % as source of boron). Two sprays were done at the flowering stage and at one month later of first spray. The results revealed that the effect of zinc and boron were found significant on fruit quality characters. Treatment combination of zinc sulphate @ 0.5% and borax @ 0.5% resulted maximum TSS Acid ratio (21.46), total sugar (8.66%) and reducing sugars (1.72%), lowest acidity (0.67%) along with higher TSS (14.36oBrix). From the result of the present experiment it can be concluded that post flowering sprays of zinc and boron has significant role to improve the quality of pineapple.