The Effect of Colored Shade Nets on Sweet Bell Pepper Quality after Prolonged Storage and Shelf Life

Colored shade nets (photo-selective nets - ChromatiNets (TM)), which have been developed during the last decade to filter selected spectral regions of sunlight, concomitantly with inducing light scattering, are designed to specifically modify plant attributes such as more fruits on the plants and higher yield. In studies conducted during the last two years on two cultivars of red sweet bell pepper (Capsicum annuum); 'Romans' and 'Vergasa', we have found that peppers grown in semi-arid region under the Pearl and Yellow shade nets, significantly maintained better fruit quality after 15 d storage at 7 degrees C plus 3 d shelf life simulation, compared to the traditional black shade net, or the Red shade net of equivalent shading capacity (35%). Most prominently, the Pearl and Yellow nets significantly reduced decay incidence in both cultivars during the two years, compared to the Black and Red shade nets. The main decay-causing agent was Alternaria alternata. Results have shown a significant reduction in Alternaria spp. population in the field, under both Pearl and Yellow nets as evaluated by selective growing medium. Red shade net significantly reduced fruit weight loss, compared to the other shade nets, but other quality parameters such as firmness, elasticity and sugar level have not been affected by the colored shade nets. http://www.actahort.org/members/showpdf?booknrarnr=927_69