Preharvest salicylic acid and delay ripening of 'superior seedless' grapes

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of salicylic acid (SA) treatment (0, 1, 2, 4 mM SA) on Vitis vinifera L. 'Superior seedless' which conducted during two seasons 2014 and 2015. The study aims to delay cluster repining during shelf-life at room temperature for four days. The results showed that SA treatments were significantly effective in reducing weight loss. Berry shatter, rachis browning index, while it preserved another quality parameter high such as berry firmness, separation force, total phenol content (TPC) and color hue angle during shelf-life for four days. The previous results were significantly observed with SA at 4 mM compared to control and other SA concentrations. However, total solid content (SSC%), titratable acidity (TA%), SSC/TA ratio was significantly affected by SA at 4 mM up to end the shelf-life period. In contrast, the lowest values of carotenoid content and membrane electrolyte leakage (IL%) during shelf-life compared with other SA concentrations. Therefore, SA is effective for delaying fruit ripening and maintain cluster quality of 'Superior seedless' grapes.