Effect of Foliar Sprays of Phenylalanine, Nano-potash and Potassium Sulphate on Fruit Quality Attributes of Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh) cv. Ambri

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out at Experimental field of Ambri Apple Research Centre (AARC), Shopian, SKUAST-Kashmir, during the year 2022-2023. Eight treatments, viz; control (water spray), potassium sulphate (5 g per litre of water), phenylalanine (@ 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%), nano-potash (@ 1, 2 and 3ml/l of water) were selected for colour improvement. The treatments were applied 30 days prior to harvest. The experiment was laid in complete randomised block design with 3 replications having 3 trees per replication. The results showed that all the treatments outperformed control in terms of chemical characteristics. The treatment T4 (Phenylalanine @ 0.3%) significantly excelled in all the treatments applied. Significantly higher anthocyanin content (14.41 mg/100g), antioxidants (75.71 %), total sugars (12.98 %), TSS (16.23 %), fruit chlorophyll (0.59 mg/g fw) and fruit ascorbic acid (23.93 %) was recorded in T4 (Phenylalanine @ 0.3%) as compared to other treatments. According to the current study, apple cultivar Ambri responded favourably to the application of foliar phenylalanine in improving chemical traits, which otherwise lacks in this cultivar. The application of Phe @ 0.3% , 30 days prior to harvest proved superior in enhancing the quality attributes, notably the anthocyanin content of apple cv. Ambri.