The bagging is an operation of extreme importance in the loquat culture because it provides fruit quality, and allows minimization of chemical products use. However, there is still lack of information, related to the adequate moment to carry through the operation, especially considering the limit of bagging stage, in which there are fruits of marketable quality. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of bagged fruits of loquat cultivars in different stadiums of development. The cultivars 'Mizuho', 'Mizumo', 'Mizauto', 'Centennial', 'Crystal Nectar' and selection IAC NE-3 were evaluated in three stages of bagging, that is, when fruits reached an average diameter of 0.5cm, 1.0cm and 1.5cm. After fruits reached the size in accordance to each treatment, the panicles were bagged using newsprint. When mature, the fruits were harvested and evaluated regardless to length, diameter and fruit mass, presence of internal and external damages. The bagging at different developmental stages interfered in the quality of loquat fruit. bagged with diameters between 0.5 and 1.0cm were the ones that had presented the best commercial quality. The IAC NE-3 selection detached e among the loquat fruit due to its dimensions.
Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.; loquat fruit; thinning; handling
