IMPACT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC NITROGEN FERTILIZERS ON WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGE TREES. II. FRUIT QUALITY DURING COLD STORAGE

Ennab, H. A.; El Shemy, M. A.; Abd El Aziz, M. H.

doi:10.21608/mjppf.2019.174927

IMPACT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC NITROGEN FERTILIZERS ON WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGE TREES. II. FRUIT QUALITY DURING COLD STORAGE

Document Type : original papers

Authors

¹ Citrus Research Department Horticulture Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt

² Handling Research Department Horticulture Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt

10.21608/mjppf.2019.174927

Abstract

The present study was carried out during 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons on 20 year old Washington navel orange trees grown in a private orchard in Kafr El Sheikh governorate, Egypt, to evaluating the effects of poultry manure and/or ammonium sulphate on fruit quality and storability of Washington navel orange fruits during cold storage. At harvest time, fruit samples were transported to laboratory of Sakha Horticulture Research Station, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Egypt. Fruit samples were stored at cold storage (3±1 ^◦C and 90 – 95 % RH) for 60 days. Fruit quality was determined at 15 days intervals from storage to determine the changes of fruit characters. The obtained results revealed that, Washington navel orange trees receiving 305.8 kg/feddan ammonium sulphate + 2.73 ton/feddan poultry manure (T₃) was the most effective treatment in maintaining the quality of Washington navel oranges during cold storage (3±1 ^◦C and 90 – 95 % RH) which was significantly indicated by the lowest percentages of weight loss and decay. Also, this treatment (T₃) gave the highest fruit firmness, higher SSC and SSC/acid ratio, while it gave moderate level of titratable acidity and ascorbic acid compared to the other treatments. Therefore, it could be recommended that, fertilizing Washington navel orange trees with 305.8 kg/feddan ammonium sulphate + 2.73 ton/feddan poultry manure (T₃) considers as effective treatments in producing fruit with high quality at harvest time and help to maintaining the quality tell 60 days of cold storage.

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