Influence of Pre-Harvest Foliar Application of Nutrients and Growth Regulators on Fruit Quality of Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) cv. Rose Scented

In order to maintain and enhance fruit quality and storability of litchi the present study was conducted at Horticultural Research Centre, GBPUA & T, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand during 2013-14 and 2014-15. Different pre-harvest sprays of nutrients and growth regulators were sprayed individually or in combination with each other, viz., calcium chloride @ 0.5%, potassium sulphate @ 0.5%, borax @ 1%, putrescine @ 40ppm, salicylic acid @ 100ppm and ascorbic acid @ 0.2% on litchi to ascertain their effect on fruit chemical characters. The analytical study of the data revealed that treatment with a combination of CaCl2+ K2SO4 + Borax @ 0.5 % + 0.5 % + 1.0 % had best effect on TSS (21.05 °B), titratable acidity (0.44 %), ascorbic acid (28.16 %), total sugars (15.39 %), reducing sugars (11.48 %), non-reducing sugars (3.90 %) and TSS: acid ratio (31.62).