Effects of gibberellic acid, potassium nitrate and calcium sulfate on pomegranate fruit splitting and fruit characteristics

摘要

Pomegranate fruit splitting is one of the major problems of production which leads to economic and quality losses. Cultivars with thin peel such as ‘Kadru’ are more susceptible to this disorder. The present study was carried out in a completely randomized block design to evaluate the influence of foliar application of gibberellic acid (GA3), potassium nitrate (KNO3) and calcium sulfate (CaSO4) on alleviating fruit splitting of ‘Kadru’ cultivar in addition to some physical and quality characteristics in an orchard in Farugh region (Fars Province, Iran). Uniform healthy pomegranate trees were chosen for the experiment. Treatments included the foliar application of GA3 (50, 100 and 200 mg L-1), CaSO4 (2500, 3000 and 3500 mg L-1) and KNO3 (5000, 10,000 and 15,000 mg L-1) in May and early September in two successive years. The results indicated that most of the treatments significantly increased the number of healthy fruits, however, the application of KNO3 at 5000 mg L-1 concentration did not cause a significant response. Foliar application of GA3 (100 mg L-1) was evaluated as the most effective treatment in the reduction of the fruit splitting. Also, KNO3 (10,000 mg L-1) treatment mitigated the percentage of fruit splitting and had a beneficial impact on the weight of 100 arils, percentage of the edible part of the fruits and ascorbic acid concentration. Therefore, foliar application of KNO3 (10,000 mg L-1) is recommendable for the reduction of the pomegranate fruit splitting.