Morphology of Litchi Fruit as Effected by Exposure to Sunlight and Fruit Orientation

To study the quality of Litchi (Litchi chinensis sonn.) fruit as affected by exposure to sunlight and fruit orientation on the tree, five cultivars viz; Purbi, Bedana, Bombai, Serai and Gola were collected. Fruits of each cultivar were picked from exposed, unexposed, upper half and lower half portions of the trees. The unexposed fruits were found heavier in weight, stone, peel and pulp. The fruits at Lower half were found heavy in weight, pericarp and flesh. However, stone weight was found to be more in fruits collected from upper half portion of the tree. As unexposed fruits were massive therefore, it is advisable to pick these fruits first if chemical parameters are not included in selection. Hence it is concluded that picking should be started from those fruits which are positioned at the lower half portion of the tree in order to collect fruits of superior quality first.