Supplementary Pollination Effect on the Postharvest Quality of Hayward Kiwifruit during Cold Storage

The current research applied four methods of supplementary pollination from male flowers of kiwifruit (cv. Tomori). These methods were open pollination, hand pollination, spray pollination with pure pollen, and spray pollination with impure pollen, collected from the entrance of bee hives at the time of male kiwifruit flower opening and arranged in three replications in 2021. The fruits were harvestable after reaching the maturity stage (6.2 °Brix) and stored for 90 days at 0 °C. The results showed that kiwifruit decay (1.70%), weight loss (3.14%), total soluble solids (TSS) (149.62%), and TSS: titratable acidity (TA) ratio (TSS/TA) (333.04%) significantly (P≤0.01) increased during 90 days of cold storage. However, fruit firmness (38.24%), TA (42.10%), total chlorophyll (53.72%), carotenoid (18.65%), vitamin C (10.34%), flavonoid (12.87%), and antioxidant activity (13.29%) significantly decreased through storage time. Furthermore, total phenolic content (TPC) increased substantially after 30 days of cold storage but then decreased. Generally, fruits from vines sprayed with impure pollen had higher firmness, bioactive compounds, and sensory attributes. They had lower decay and less weight loss after 90 days of cold storage. Overall, spraying kiwifruit vines with impure pollen could be recommended as a practical supplementary pollination in kiwifruits, cv. Hayward, regarding postharvest quality maintenance.