Interaction of irrigation rates and fertilization doses on postharvest quality of papaya ‘Formosa '

Water deficit is a water-saving strategy that might nevertheless negatively affect fruit quality. In the present study, the papaya quality was evaluated after application of different irrigation rates and nitrogen fertilization doses at harvest and postharvest. The study was conducted on ‘Formosa' cultivar in semiarid region. The experiment was performed in a completely randomized design in a 2 x 5 x 3 scheme; two storage times (0 and 5 days), five irrigation rates (50, 75, 100, 125, and 150% of crop evapotranspiration), and three nitrogen doses (150, 180, and 210 Kg.ha-1), with four replicates. Total Soluble Solids (TSS), Titratable Acidity (TA), and fruit skin colour (Luminosity - L, intensity of green/red coloration - a*, and intensity of yellow coloration - b*) were evaluated. Reduced irrigation rates and lower nitrogen doses resulted in increased soluble solids and SS/TA ratio. The latter was increased during storage. Irrigation deficit and a lower amount of nitrogen (150 Kg. ha-1) did not reduce papaya quality, even after 5 days of storage in an environment with controlled temperature and humidity. In order to ensure net productivity in rural properties, this water-saving strategy of maintaining the crop under water restriction conditions must take into consideration not only in the curves of papaya quality-related variables, but also fruit productivity curve.