Impact Of Pre-Harvest Bagging And Spraying Treatments On Yield, Fruit Sunburn, And Shelf Life Of Mango Keitt

Abstract

Sunburn is a major problem caused by high temperature and direct solar radiation, which leads to significant
economic losses in mango Keitt yield. So, a field experiment was conducted during the 2019 and 2020 seasons to
study the effect of pre-harvest fruit bagging or spraying treatments on Keitt fruit sunburn, and the shelf life of fruit.
The research was conducted at a private orchard In Egypt on six-year-old Keitt mango trees planted at two-by-four
meters. In order to reduce the incidence of sunburn, plants were sprayed with ammonium silicate (Kaolin) or bagged
with several types of paper. The treatments were as follows non-sprayed (control), Aqueous Ammonium silicate
(Kaolin) at 1%, 2%, and 3 in addition to bagging with a white paper bag (A4, 70 gm), Pergamene paper bag, Foam
paper bag, and Muslin cloth bag. The white paper treatment had the lowest percentage of burned fruits, resulting
in the highest number of fruits per tree at harvest and fruit retention percentage. The difference from control was
notable, as control had the highest number of burnt fruits and the largest sunburned area of fruits in both seasons,
and in some cases was on the same par with other treatments.