SKUAST Journal of Research

The present investigation entitled “Effectiveness of colour improving sprays on physical characteristics of apple(Malus x domestica Borkh) cv. Ambri” 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 physical characteristics. The treatment T4 (Phenylalanine @ 0.3%) significantly excelled in all the treatments applied. Significantly higher fruit colour (35.25 a*), fruit firmness (8.05 kg/cm²), fruit weight (196.39 g), fruit length (7.52 cm), fruit diameter (7.31 cm), fruit volume (191.15 cm³) and organoleptic rating (3.84 /4.00 pts) 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 fruit colour, which otherwise lacks in this cultivar and also improved the other physical characteristics. The application of Phe @ 0.3% at 30 days prior to harvest proved superior in enhancing the quality features, notably the red coloration of apple cv. Ambri.