ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the influence of bagging on apple fruit quality on different development stages. The study was conducted in an organic orchard at the Experimental Station of Epagri in Caçador, SC, during the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 crop seasons. The apple tree genotypes evaluated were ‘Royal Gala’, ‘Fuji Suprema’, ‘Catarina’ and the M-11/00 selection. The fruits were evaluated at the following stages: intermediate development (half-cycle), at harvest or commercial maturity and seven days after harvest. Fruits were submitted to two different conditions (treatments): bagged and no bagged. Fruits were bagged after thinning, at approximately 20 mm diameter, with white non-textured fabric packaging. The physico-chemical attributes evaluated were: background color, diameter, fresh weight, pulp firmness, starch-iodine index, titratable acidity and total soluble solids. Fruit bagging did not affect fruit background color or total soluble solids. However, fruit diameter, fresh weight, pulp firmness, starch-iodine index and tritratable acidity were altered depending on the apple tree genotype and developmental stage. Bagging can provide larger and heavier fruits, it may also anticipate maturity due to reduction on pulp firmness and increase of the starch-iodine index. In some genotypes and developmental stages the average tritratable acidity values were lower in bagged fruits.
Index terms
Temperate-zone fruits;
Malus domestica
; bagging fruits; integrated pest management
