Reducing incidence of peel physiopathies and increasing antioxidant activity in pomegranate fruit under different irrigation conditions by preharvest application of chitosan

No previous information exits on the effect of preharvest chitosan, a plant biostimulant and antitranspirant, which has been considered as a food additive by the USFDA, spraying on pomegranate trees. Then, the effect of chitosan spraying in fully irrigated and water stressed trees on yield, fruit quality and the occurrence of fruit peel physiopathies was studied. Some of these effects were negative such as the reduction in fruit weight and the less reddish and duller appearance of the arils. However, these negative aspects could be regarded as being compensated by other very important positive effects, such as the increase in the antioxidant activity and the significant reduction in fruit peel cracking or splitting and fruit sunburn physiopathies occurrence, which would considerably improve the returns of pomegranate growers.