Brassinosteroid preharvest treatments as a useful tool to increase crop yield and red colour in blood orange fruits

The greatest improvements were recorded at the 0.1-μM 24-BL treatment, in which the enhanced peel colour led to a 41% increase in the yield of commercial fruits compared to control trees, which could have an important beneficial impact on growers' profit. In addition, the consumer acceptance of 24-BL could increase since the red colour in blood oranges is the most important parameter valued by consumers. With the enhancement of their total anthocyanin and phenolic contents, their health-beneficial effects are also increased.