Studies on the effect of plant growth regulators on qualitative characters of sapota cv. Cricket Ball

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of cycocel i.e., 0, 200 and 400 ppm at fruit bud differentiation stage followed by other growth regulators (GA/NAA, GA-50 and NAA-100 ppm) at flowering stage and further GA 50 and NAA 100 ppm were sprayed either at pea stage or lag phase of fruit development. Length, diameter, weight and volume of fruit, pulp thickness, pulp as well as peel weight of fruits were increased considerably with the application of cycocel CCC (400 ppm) followed by CCC (200 ppm) at FBD stage. While, at flowering stage NAA (100 ppm) proved to be the best for all the physical characters of fruit as compared to GA (50 ppm). Similarly, NAA (100 ppm) applied at pea stage also gave better response to the fruit characters than GA (50 ppm) applied at same stage of fruit development. Whereas, a reduction in number of seeds and weight was observed by the application of growth regulators as compared to no application. TSS, sugars and ascorbic acid were enhanced with the treatment of CCC (400 ppm) applied at FBD stage followed by CCC (200 ppm). Whereas, acidity of fruits was found to be decreased by the application of CCC (400 ppm) at FBD over no application (control). At fruit development stage pea stage was more beneficial than lag phase.