Potassium silicate and calcium chloride improve production and shelf-lifeof strawberries

The short shelf-life of strawberry fruits is the main challenge for transportation over long distances during export and import around the world. Adding postharvest treatments could increase fruits decay during transportation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of pre-harvest applications with different rates of calcium chloride (0.5, 1, and 2 %) and potassium silicate (0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 %) on growth, yield, fruit characteristics, shelf-life for 7 days at 10°C on the content of bioactive compounds, and the activity of enzymes in strawberries. The results indicated that calcium chloride and potassium silicate significantly increased leaves number, plant fresh weight, chlorophyll percentage, plant leaf area, and dry matter compared to the control. Additionally, calcium chloride and potassium silicate significantly increased total yield, marketable yield, fruit length, fruit weight, and fruit diameter. Calcium chloride was the most effective treatment for decreasing weight loss and increasing fruit firmness and total anthocyanin compared to other treatments. Moreover, potassium silicate was the most effective treatment for enhancing vitamin C. Both compounds significantly increased total sugar, antioxidant capacity, and peroxidase (POD) activity. Our results offer crucial data for commercial producers to increase production, enhance postharvest quality, and extend shelf life, thus permitting a wider range of strawberry retail marketing.