Pre-harvest field application of enhanced freshness formulation reduces yield loss in orange

• Published in: Chemical and biological technologies in agriculture 2020-11, Vol.7 (1), p.1-5, Article 25
• Main Authors: Samwel, Jaspa, Msogoya, Theodosy, Kudra, Abdul, Mtui, Hosea Dunstan, Baltazari, Anna, Sullivan, J. Alan, Subramanian, Jayasankar, Mwatawala, Maulid Walad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Citrus sinensis; Crop yield; Cultivars; Damage; Early valencia; Factorial experiments; Freshness; Fruits; Harvesting; Hexanal; Jaffa; Late valencia; Life Sciences; New technology; Non-marketable fruit; Organic Chemistry; Pests; Plant Biochemistry; Plant Physiology; Pre-harvest fruit drop; Soil Science & Conservation
• ISSN: 2196-5641; 2196-5641
• DOI: 10.1186/s40538-020-00191-7

Background Orange ( Citrus sinensis L.) production in Tanzania is constrained by several pre-harvest factors that include pests. Hexanal, sprayed as Enhanced Freshness Formulation (EFF) is a relatively new technology that has been reported to reduce pre-harvest loss in fruits. However, the effects of hexanal on pre-harvest yield loss of orange are not known. We studied the effects of hexanal as EFF on yield losses of three sweet orange cultivars namely, Early Valencia, Jaffa, and Late Valencia. Factorial experiments tested the effects of EFF concentration, variety, and time of EFF application on number of dropped fruit, percentage of non-marketable fruit and incidence of pest damage. Results Results showed significant negative correlation ( p