Effect of Foliar Spray of Brassinosteroid on Some Characteristics of  Washington Navel During Storage Period

‘Washington Navel’ is one of the most important citrus cultivar. It is one of the earliest ripening, with high quality charcters and excellent market acceptance. This study was to examine the effects of 24- epibrasinosteroid on some characteristics of ‘Washington Navel’. In this regards, an experimental in a randomized complete block with three replications used to investigate the effects of various levels of brassinosteroid (0, 0.01, 0.1 or 1 μM) in three stages (after fruit set, after fruit set + a month before harvest and one month before harvest) After fruit harvest, 12 fruits from each treatment were stored at 4°C for 5 weeks. Then some characteristics were evaluated. The results showed that the application of brassinosteroid significantly improved the some characters such as: fruit firmness, skin thickness, organic acid, ascorbic acid, pH, soluble solids, skin ion leakage, phenol, percentage of weight loss and volume loss during storage. Also brassinosteroid increased antioxidant compounds such as ascorbic acid and phenols during storage, and increased tolerance to stress.