Effect of preharvest fruit bagging on fruit quality characteristics and incidence of fruit physiopathies in fully irrigated and water stressed pomegranate trees

BACKGROUND: This report studied the response of pomegranate fruit under full irrigation (FI) and water stress conditions to bagging with externally glossy, single‐layer, cellulosic paper bags, open at the bottom, from the end of fruit thinning to harvest time. RESULTS: Bagging decreased fruit size and the maturity index, and increased antioxidant activity in FI conditions. Moreover, fruit bagging substantially reduced the incidence of peel sunburn in both irrigation conditions. CONCLUSION: The delay in fruit growth and ripening as a result of pomegranate fruit bagging is outweighed by the very important commercial benefit in terms of the reduced incidence of peel sunburn and the increase in fruit antioxidant activity. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.