Hand Thinning Influence on Fruit Quality Attributes of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. 'Malase Yazdi')

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the oldest fruit trees that is native to Iran and resistant to hot warm and dry climate. Excessive fruit on the tree reduces fruit size and produces fruit with low quality. Hand thinning of flowers and fruits is a management tool to reduce the crop load and increase the quantitative and qualitative attributes of the fruit before harvest. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of different hand thinning levels (control, and removal of 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% of fruit) on the physic-chemical attributes of pomegranate fruit 'Malase Yazdi'. These results revealed that removing 20% of fruit gave the highest yield and trees thinned at 15%, 20%, and 25% levels produced heavier fruits at harvest. The highest fruit length and diameter were observed in 20% thinning treatment. Fruits from trees thinned at 20% and 25% had significantly higher volume, juice content, total weight of aril, peel fresh weight and soluble solids concentration than fruits from non-thinned trees. Also, a better red of fruits from trees thinned at 20% and 25% was observed. Thinning had a positive effect on studied quality attributes and thinning at 20% seems to be the optimal treatment for a better yield and fruit quality.