Effect of preharvest fruit bagging on fruit quality characteristics and incidence of fruit physiopathies in fully irrigated and water stressed pomegranate trees

BACKGROUND: This report studied the response of pomegranate fruit under full irrigation (FI) and water stress conditions to bagging with externally glossy, single-layer, cellulosic paper bags, open at the bottom, from the end of fruit thinning to harvest time. RESULTS: Bagging decreased fruit size and the maturity index, and increased antioxidant activity in FI conditions. Moreover, fruit bagging substantially reduced the incidence of peel sunburn in both irrigation conditions. CONCLUSION: The delay in fruit growth and ripening as a result of pomegranate fruit bagging is outweighed by the very important commercial benefit in terms of the reduced incidence of peel sunburn and the increase in fruit antioxidant activity. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.