Pre-Harvest Application of Plant Biostimulant on the Quality and Shelf-Life of Yellow Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Abstract

The purpose this work was to evaluate the influence of pre-harvest application of plant biostimulant on the quality and shelf-life of melon. For this an experiment was established in the “Coopyfrutas”, located in Rio Grande do Norte state/Brazil. The treatments consisted of a combination of factors: melon cultivars (‘Goldex’ and ‘Iracema’) and pre-harvest application of plant biostimulant, Crop Set®, (with and without). At commercial maturity, some fruit of each treatment were sampled and analyzed and the others were stored in a cold chamber at 10±2 ºC and 80±2% relative humidity. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized split-plot design. The plots consisted of cultivars and Crop Set® application and subplots of different storage time (0, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days after harvest) with eight replications. The characteristics evaluated were length, diameter, internal cavity, external and internal appearance, weight loss, fresh firmness, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, SS/TA ratio, and total soluble sugars. Applications of plant biostimulant led to an increase in fruit length and diameter. It reduced fresh firmness and increased the pH of ‘Goldex’ fruit. The total soluble sugars reduced at 35 days of storage in the ‘Iracema’ fruit treated with plant biostimulant.