EFFECT OF BUNCH BAGGING COLOR ON 'SUCCARY' AND 'KHALAS' DATE PALM CULTIVARS: FRUIT CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS

A field study was carried out during two successive seasons (2007 and 2008) at the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station, Dirab, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Two date palm cultivars, ‘Succary’ and ‘Khalas’ bunches were subjected to five plastic bagging color treatments: black, white, blue, yellow, and control (unbagged) in order to study the effect of bunch bagging color on harvest periods, yield and fruit quality. Results showed that the bagging treatments improve fruit chemical properties compared to unbagging. Blue bags significantly increased the fruit total soluble solids, reducing, non-reducing sugars of ‘Succary’ and ‘Khalas’ cultivars in both seasons.