Abstract
Egypt leads the world in date fruit production. 'Zaghloul' date is a popular soft date in Egypt. It is an early season cultivar that is extensively cultivated in the North Delta region, an important region for soft date production in Egypt. Bagging of inflorescences is a physical technique commonly used with many crops to both protect fruits from diseases and pests and to alter the microenvironment of fruits development. The microenvironment exerts multiple effects on fruit growth and quality. Bagged and unbagged fruits were evaluated for fruit quality during the hababok, kimeri and khelal stages of fruit development. Inflorescences were bagged immediately after pollination and remained bagged for 35 days. Bagging modified the microenvironment of the fruit, increasing humidity, this remained above 70% between two and three weeks after bagging. Bagging also increased temperature around the inflorescences and promoted fruit development, increased the final fruit retention percentage, and improved fruit yield and quality (both physical and chemical characteristics), especially during the kimeri and khelal stages. Based on the results, bagging inflorescences after pollination is recommended as a pre-harvest treatment to promote early ripening and improve fruit quality of Zaghloul date palms.