Effects of Zinc Foliar Nutrition on ‘Gala’ Apple (Malus Domestica Borkh) Fruit Quality

Abstract

To improve fruit color features research has focused on the use of foliar nutrition with zinc. There is a lack of know about apples. The aim of this trial was to evaluate the effects of foliar zinc treatment on the qualitative characteristics of ‘Gala’ apple. Apple trees Cv ‘Gala’ were submitted to a foliar spray application of Zn in the form of aqueous solution of 0.2% and 0.4% zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) for three times. Fruit was harvested at commercial ripening and physicochemical parameters, yield, crop load, yield effi ciency and zinc leaf content were measured. Results revealed that yield, crop load, fruit weight, cover color index and cover color percentage of the observed trees was infl uenced by zinc foliar spray treatment in each harvest date. The foliar fertilization using zinc infl uenced yield and several fruit quality traits. Since the ZN1 and ZN2 treatments do not differ signifi cantly in the effect, the choice may lie in the adoption of the fi rst treatment as it yields more economic and sustainable outcomes.