Effects of Preharvest Foliar Application of Calcium Chloride and Boron on Postharvest Characteristics of  Golab -e- Kohanz Apple Fruits

‘Golab-e Kohanz’ apple fruit is a highly edible quality fruit but it has a short storage life. In order to study the effect of foliar application of calcium and boron on postharvest characteristics of ‘Golab-e Kohanz’ apple fruit, an experiment was carried out during two successive years in Homayjan, Sepidan, Fars province, Iran. The experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized block design with 4 replications. The treatments included calcium chloride in 3 concentrations (0.05%, 0.75%, and 1%) alone or in combination with boric acid (0.05%) and commercial calcium fertilizers Calciogreen, Calboron and Set. The first foliar spray was done at 2 week after full bloom and other sprays were done every 2 weeks. Characteristics such as firmness, acidity, ascorbic acid, total soluble solids, pH and weight loss at harvest (time 1), 10 days after storage (time 2) and 20 days after storage were (time 3) measured. Results showed that characteristics such as firmness, acidity, ascorbic acid, and weight had fewer changes in treated fruits during storage compared with control. Total soluble solids and pH of treated fruits increased less than control during storage.