Preharvest Sprays Effecting Storage Life of Peach : Quality improvement and storage life extension in peach fruit

Peach is the leading temperate fruit crop after apple and pear. In Punjab, peach fruits are harvested in May when temperature and relative humidity is high. The fruit is highly perishable in nature and cannot be stored for longer time at ambient temperature. Proper storage extends the period of availability of peach fruits by reducing the rate of respiration and minimizing transpiration losses during period between harvest and consumption. Therefore a systematic study needs to be carried out to access the effect of pre-harvest sprays on quality of peach. Peach is a perishable fruit and information on pre-harvest treatments of nutrients and growth regulators on storage life and quality of subtropical peaches is not known which have been reported to play an important role in improving the storage of fruits by minimizing the rate of respiration and retarding senescence. Therefore, the present experiment is planned to study the effect of pre harvest application of calcium chloride, boric acid, potassium and gibberellic acid on storage life and quality of peach fruit cv Shan-i-Punjab