Development of Nutritional Quality and Biochemical Content of Bilimbi Fruit by Using Plant Hormone and Bark Stress

Plant hormone keeps a significant role to enlarge the fruit size and quality development. Fruit growers have a lot of interest in making fruit enlargement and shorten maturity to harvest fruit earlier and to make it marketable soon. Gibberellic Acid (GA3) and bark stress play a significant role in fruit enlargement and development. Bilimbi fruit was used in this experiment. The flower bud were swabbed with the respective chemical (GA3) and physiological stress (bark stress) at one week interval for 2 weeks. It had been shown that the GA3 50ppm played major role in developing a bigger sized (length and diameter) fruit as compared to the bark stress, thinning and control. Fruit/bunch was higher as well as lower fruit drop percent compared to other treatments. Fructose content and pH were found higher in the distal end of the fruit than in the middle and proximal end of the fruit. Total soluble solid (TSS) content was higher in the distal end of the fruit than in the middle and proximal end of the fruit in the case of all treatments. However, TSS was higher in the case of GA3 and bark stress treated fruit than in the thinning and control fruit. The results showed that GA3 50ppm using swabbed technique was the best and bark stress was more effective for the enlargement of fruit size and improve the better biochemical content in bilimbi fruit.