www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org IMPACT OF SUMMER SEASON, PLANT DENSITY AND INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF GUAVA CV. LALIT R. KIRAN KUMAR 1 , S. JAGANATH 2 , T.R. GURUPRASAD 3 & H. MOHAMAD TAYEEB ULLA 4 1,2,4 College of Horticulture, UHS Campus, GKVK, Post, Bengaluru, India 3 Regional Horticulture Research & Extension Center, Bangalore, Karnataka, India ABSTRACT The guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Lalit" was studied under different spacing (2 x 2, 3 x 3, 6 x 3 and 6 x 6 m) in rainy season for postharvest quality at Regional Horticulture Research Station, College of Horticulture, Bengaluru. The maximum TSS (15.14 0 B), titratable acidity (0.44 %), sugar:acid ratio (39.17), total sugars (15.57 %), reducing sugars (9.19 %) and ascorbic acid (169.24 mg 100 -1 g pulp), PLW (9.31 %), Firmness of fruit (3.50 kg/cm 2 ). The integrated nutrient management maximum TSS (15.77 0 B), titratable acidity (0.34 %), sugar:acid ratio (52.70), total sugars (16.74 %), reducing sugars (9.91 %) and ascorbic acid (184.52 mg 100 -1 g pulp), PLW (6.85 %), Firmness of fruit ( 4.55 kg/cm 2 ) was recorded. KEYWORDS: TSS, Acidity, Total Sugars, Reducing Sugars, Ascorbic Acid, PLW & Guava Received: Jan 09, 2017; Accepted: Feb 16, 2017; Published: Feb 18, 2017; Paper Id.: IJASRAPR20179 INTRODUCTION Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a popular fruit crop in India. It belongs to the family Myrtaceae. It can be grown in tropical and subtropical climate and it adapted for diverse soil and agro climatic conditions. It is relatively precocious and prolific in fruit bearing nature, could gives highly remunerative for crop production. The fruits are highly nutritious, it has a rich source of vitamin 'C' after barbados cherry (1500 mg 100 -1 g) and aonla (700 mg 100 -1 g) and Vitamin 'C' content of fruits vary from 95.75 to 239.00 mg 100 -1 g cultivars of guava Singh et al. (1976). Plant density and nutritional management play an important role in obtaining good quality of fruits. The application of huge amount of chemical fertilizers hampers the fruit quality, soil health and causes environmental pollution. So, the INM approach gives away to overcome these problems. The integrated approach of organic, inorganic and bio-fertilizers were used to know the effect on quality of guava fruits. MATERIAL AND METHODS The present research was carried out at the Regional Horticultural Research Experimental Centre (RHREC), UHS, Campus, Bengaluru during the year 2012-13 and the research was conducted on three year old guava trees. The research plot laid with four different plant densities included, 2 x 2 m, 3 x 3 m, 6 x 3 m and 6 x 6 m. The treatment comprises of T 1 : FYM (10 kg) + recommended NPK (50:25:75 g plant -1 ), T 2 : Vermicompost (10 kg) + recommended NPK, T 3 : FYM (5 kg) + vermicompost (5 kg) + recommended NPK, T 4 : FYM (10 kg) + vermicompost (10 kg) + 50% recommended NPK, T 5 : Azotobacter (20 g) + FYM (10 kg) + 50% recommended NPK, T 6 : Azotobacter (20 g) + vermicompost (10 kg) + 50% recommended NPK, T 7 : PSB (20 g) + FYM (10 kg) + 50% recommended NPK, T 8 : PSB (20 g) + vermicompost (10 kg) + 50% recommended NPK, T 9 : Azotobacter Original Article International Journal of Agricultural Science and Research (IJASR) ISSN(P): 2250-0057; ISSN(E): 2321-0087 Vol. 7, Issue 2, Apr 2017, 59-66 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.