Effect of Defoliation and Fruit Thinning on Fruit Quality of 'Crimson Seedless' Grape

Crimson Seedless' vines were treated with 5 defoliation managements: (1) leaf basal removal (LBR), (2) leaf basal removal + hedging (LBR+H), (3) leaf basal removal + sterile shoot removal (SSR+LBR), (4) combination of treatments 2 and 3 (LBR+SSR+H), (5) leaf basal removal + fruit thinning (LBR+FTH). Defoliation improved cluster weight, size, and compactness. Berries were bigger (size, weight) with LBR + FTH, followed by the other treatments except LBR+H+SSR. Moreover, defoliation accelerated the ripening process and the berry juice was increased, whereas, fruit firmness and adherence were decreased. Also, it increased T.S.S and decreased the acidity. Total anthocyanins in the berry were improved by all treatments.