Effect of Fruit Bagging on the Development and Quality of Guava Fruit

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is highly nutritious, and contains significant minerals, vitamins,
and dietary fibre, which makes it effective for treating stomach-related issues. Fruit quality is
influenced by biotic and abiotic factors, with external appearance being crucial. Agronomic practices
can improve the fruit microenvironment, enhancing quality and market value. Thus, producing high-
quality, defect-free, and chemical-free fruits is essential. The present experiment studied the effect of
bagging on the development and quality of guava variety Lalit. Bagging at marble and egg stages
used various materials: control (no bagging), newspaper, butter paper, and different colored non-
woven bags. Bagging improved physicochemical parameters compared to unbagged fruits. The egg
stage bagging recorded maximum fruit weight (134.79 g), fruit length (6.07 cm), fruit diameter (6.43
cm), fruit volume (133.99 ml), fruit retention (96.11%), number of fruits per tree (28.83), yield per
tree (3.95 kg), shelf life (6.73 days), TSS (11.83 °Brix), reducing sugars (6.48%), total sugars
(8.32%), ascorbic acid (170.66 mg/100 g pulp), minimum PLW (7.34%), and titratable acidity
(0.55%). Among bagging materials, the non-woven red bag yielded the highest fruit weight (137.13
g), fruit length (6.22 cm), fruit diameter (6.53 cm), fruit volume (138.81 ml), fruit retention (97.22%),
number of fruits per tree (29.17), yield per tree (4.12 kg), shelf life (7.00 days), TSS (12.07 °Brix),
reducing sugars (6.61%), total sugars (8.56%), non-reducing sugars (1.95%), ascorbic acid (173.46
mg/100 g pulp), and minimum days required for harvesting and physiological weight loss (7.04%).
Conversely, the newspaper bag showed the lowest titratable acidity (0.52%). Bagged fruits had fewer
fruit fly infestations and higher marketability. No significant differences were observed in physical
and quality attributes across various stages and bagging materials.