~ 352 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2020; 9(6): 352-357 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 www.phytojournal.com JPP 2020; 9(6): 352-357 Received: 15-09-2020 Accepted: 19-10-2020 Zikrullah Niazi College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Dr. T Suresh Kumar Horticultural Research Station, Konda Mallepally, Nalgonda, Telangana, India Dr. A Kiran Kumar College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Dr. Veena Joshi College of Horticulture, Mojerla, Telangana, India Dr. N Sunil ICAR-Maize Research Station, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Corresponding Author: Zikrullah Niazi College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Effect of pruning and growth regulators on quality of pomegranate Cv. Bhagwa Zikrullah Niazi, Dr. T Suresh Kumar, Dr. A Kiran Kumar, Dr. Veena Joshi and Dr. N Sunil Abstract The research was conducted on effect of different levels of pruning and plant growth regulators quality of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Cv. Bhagwa. The experiment was laid out with three replications and twenty treatments. Among of different levels of pruning, (pruning 10 cm, pruning 20 cm, pruning at 30 cm and control (Unpruned) in hasta bahar crop of pomegranate, pruning at 30 cm recorded maximum fruits firmness (5.99 kg/cm 2 ), fruits peel thickness (2.19 cm), fruit weight of 100 aril (33.07 g), Specific gravity (1.52 g/cc),total soluble solids (16.52 o Brix), observed in pruning at 20 cm. total sugars (15.41%), it was recorded in pruning at 30 cm, reducing sugars (8.46%),in control (unpruned). non-reducing sugars (6.86%), recorded in pruning at 30 cm. titrable acidity (0.68%) recorded between pruning at 20 cm and pruning at 30 cm both of equals. and ascorbic acid (13.53%), recorded between pruning at 20 cm and pruning at 30 cm both of equals shelf life (16.20%) showed significant results in pruning at 10 cm. Among plant growth regulators (NAA @ 25 ppm, NAA @ 50 ppm, GA3 @ 25 ppm, GA3 @ 50 ppm and water spray) in hasta bahar crop of pomegranate, GA3 @ 50 ppm recorded maximum fruit firmness (6.21 kg cm -2 ), fruits peel thickness (2.24 cm), and weight of 100 aril (34.83 g), Specific gravity (1.54 g/cc) significantly total soluble solids (16.51 o Brix), reducing sugars (8.57%) was observed in GA3 @ 50 ppm, non-reducing sugars (6.92%), titrable acidity (0.75%) and total sugars (15.29%) was observed in water spray, shelf life (16.25%). The interaction between different levels of pruning and plant growth regulators shown maximum, fruit firmness (6.29 kg cm -2 ), fruits peel thickness (2.30 cm) weight of 100 aril (37.60 g), Specific gravity (1.63 g/cc), maximum total soluble solids (17.10 o Brix), total sugars (16.40%), reducing sugars (10.00%) and non-reducing sugar (8.56%) non-reducing sugar (8.56%) with same above treatment combinations. Keywords: pruning, growth regulators, NAA, GA3 Introduction Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the popular table fruit mainly cultivated in tropical and subtropical eco-systems. It is called as power house of health, all parts of the plant like roots, bark, leaves, flower, rind and seeds used for medicine since ancient times. The fruits have wide consumer preference for their attractive juice, sweet-acidic and refreshing arils. There is a great demand for good quality fruits both in the form of fresh and processed products such as juice, syrup, anardana and wine (Varasteh et al., 2009) [26] . The Bhagwa variety of pomegranate presently under cultivation known by different names like, Shendria, Ashtagandha and Kesar. It has attractive glossy red thick skin. This variety is very popular among the farmers and is cultivated in large area because of the good shelf life, attractive skin and aril color and tolerant to fruit cracking (Sheikh, 2006) [22]. Pruning is one of the important horticultural practices in many fruit crops, which influences both yield and quality of the fruit. Pomegranate fruits are borne on short branches known as spurs that arise from mature shoots. These spurs have capacity to bear fruits for a period of 3-4 years and with advance of age, they decline in production (Patil & Karale 1985) [17] . Therefore, there is a need to encourage growth of new spurs. However, less scientific report is available about the effect of pruning on pomegranate production. Plant growth regulators have remained an important component in horticulture from time immemorial as they were effective means of quantitative as well as qualitative improvement in growth and development of crops. Plant growth regulators are reported to play a significant role in pomegranate (Chaudhari and Desai, 1993) [4] . Different group of plant growth regulators like auxin, gibberellins and growth retardants at various concentrations have been reported to influence flowering, fruit set, fruit retention, development and quality characters of several fruit crops (Bhujbal et al., 2013) [1] . Therefore, pruning in combination with application of plant growth regulators is necessary to get higher productivity with better quality.