5. Conclusions
Based on the above analyses and discussions, the following
conclusions concerning effects of bagging on cross-winter offseason
longan fruit are drawn: (1) bagging treatments promoted
fruit development and increased fruit size and weight due to
temperature and perhaps humidity increase. (2) Bagging could not
improve the final set of fruit. The treatments tended to promote
early fruit drop but reduce late fruit drop. (3) Bagging with
different materials showed differential effects on incidence of fruit
cracking. (4) Sugar content was not significantly affected by
bagging but organic acids including Vc were considerably affected.
Contents of Vc and oxalate showed an opposite response to
bagging treatments. (5) By bagging cross-winter off-season longan
fruit cluster with appropriate bagging materials, fruit quality could
be improved while incidences of fruit cracking could be reduced. In
this study, WAFB produced the best comprehensive effect among
the tested bag types on cross-winter longan fruit as the treatment
increased fruit size and fruit retention rate while significantly
reduced fruit cracking incidence. The treatment is promising for
practical use for over-winter off-season longan production