IMAP folder - limit message numbers

IMAP folder - limit message numbers

Can I set a limit on the number of messages synced via IMAP?   For example if my users sync with various desktop e-mail clients most of them do not have sufficient storage for all their historical e-mails and their software doesn't feature a limiting function on IMAP sync.  
With Zoho Workplace e-mail, if I shift my company onto this, I would want to be able to set a host limit of 1000-5000 most recent e-mails available to sync via IMAP.
Wondering if that is possible and how.
Many thanks for any ideas!