EFFICIENCY OF ZINC, SILVER AND CHITOSAN NANOPARTICLES SPRAY ON YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF ZAGHLOUL DATE PALM
HEMAT M. KAMAL
Department of Pomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
SAHAR M. ABD ELWAHAB
Department of Pomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
E. G. GADALLA
Central Laboratory for Date Palm Researches and Development, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza, Egypt.
AMAAL A. ZAINHOUM *
Central Laboratory for Date Palm Researches and Development, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza, Egypt.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This investigation was conducted to estimate the impact of pre-harvest application of zinc oxide, silver and chitosan nanoparticles at (30, 60 and 90 ppm) for each on yield and fruit quality as compared with untreated fruits of “Zaghloul” date palm during (2018 and 2019) seasons. All treatments were sprayed on bunches and performed three times at the beginning of growth, after fruit setting, and at one month later. The sprayed fruits were harvested at Khalal stage in September, yield and quality were evaluated at harvest day. Results showed that all treatments enhanced yield and fruit quality as the best treatment was zinc oxide nanoparticles at 90 ppm as increased yield, bunches weight, fruit weight, fruit dimension and volume also gave the highest total soluble solids, total sugars and total anthocyanin content. Moreover, gave the lowest total acidity, total soluble tannins and total phenolic content. The study suggests that pre-harvest application of zinc oxide, silver and chitosan nanoparticles might be a promising candidate fertilizer for improving the yield and overall characteristics of “Zaghloul” date palm fruit.
Keywords: Date palm, nanoparticles, zinc, silver, chitosan, quality