Preharvest silicon (Si) applications, when combined with postharvest salicyclid acid (SA), may increase W. Murcott mandarin fruit size, according to research from Ege University in Türkiye.
The study, published in the Ege University Faculty of Agriculture Journal, examined whether the Si and SA applications could help maintain mandarin quality during extended cold storage. The authors are İzzet Atakan Erdallı, Fatih Şen and Enes Yılmaz of Türkiye’s Ege University Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture.
Researchers conducted the study during the 2024–25 growing season in a W. Murcott orchard in Aydın Province, Türkiye. Trees received two foliar applications of silicon at 27 milligrams per liter — the first at the beginning of fruit color break and the second one week later.
At harvest, fruit from both silicon-treated and untreated trees were either dipped in a 2 millimolar salicylic acid solution for three minutes or left untreated. The fruit were then stored at 41 degrees Fahrenheit and 90% relative humidity for 12 weeks.
Silicon treatment increased fruit size. Average fruit weight was 100.53 grams on silicon-treated trees, compared with 89.55 grams for untreated fruit. Fruit diameter and length also increased with the treatment.
The researchers found that adding SA after harvest provided additional benefits, particularly when fruit had received silicon before harvest. The combined Si+SA treatment slowed changes associated with ripening during storage. After 12 weeks, the maturity index was 8.08 for the combined treatment, compared with 9.19 for untreated fruit.
The combination also reduced weight loss during the later storage period and helped fruit retain more vitamin C. Decay was detected only in untreated fruit at the end of storage, although incidence was low at 1.2%.
For growers and packers looking to extend marketing windows, the findings suggest that integrating preharvest Si with a postharvest SA treatment could help maintain W. Murcott quality during longer storage. However, the work was conducted under specific orchard and storage conditions. Additional commercial-scale research is needed to determine how treatment rates, application timing and storage conditions affect results in other citrus-production systems.
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