EFFECT OF POTASSIUM SILICATE AND CHELATED CALCIUM SPRAYS ON YIELD, QUALITY AND STORAGE OF PEACH FRUITS CV. “DESSERT RED”

Abstract

ABESTRUCT: The present work was conducted on ten years old "Dessert Red" peach (Prunus persica L.) trees grown in a private orchard at El-Riad, Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt. This study carried out during 2019 and 2020 seasons to evaluate the effect of pre-harvest foliar applications of potassium silicate at 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3%, calcium EDTA at 0.1 and 0.2% in addition to control treatment on yield, fruit quality and storability of peach fruits at 0±1°C with 90-95% RH. Results showed that all preharvest foliar application treatments led to increase yield (fruits weight as kg/tree and ton/feddan) and improved fruit quality compared with control treatment. Foliar spraying with T 7 (K 2 SiO 3 at 0.3% + Calcium EDTA at 0.2%) and T 6 (K 2 SiO 3 at 0.2% + Calcium EDTA at 0.2%) showed the highest yield and more effective in improving fruit quality in terms of fruit weight, length, diameter, volume, firmness, SSC% and vitamin C content at harvest time as compared to control in both seasons. Moreover, these applications showed the highest values of vitamin C content, juice acidity % and the lowest values of weight loss % up to 28 days of cold storage in both seasons. While, application of K 2 SiO 3 at 0.3% + Calcium EDTA at 0.2% recorded the highest fruit firmness values and the lowest fruit decay %, and maintained fruit SSC% and anthocyanin content during all storage periods in both seasons. Therefore, it can be recommend to spray this treatment (K 2 SiO 3 at 0.3% + Calcium EDTA at 0.2%) three times to increase yield, improve quality, and maintain peach fruit quality during cold storage.