Application of Homemade Organic Fertilizer for Improving Quality of Apple Fruit, Soil Physicochemical Characteristics, and Microbial Diversity

Abstract

Application of the organic fertilizers can improve soil properties and agricultural product quality, while the in-depth effect of organic fertilizer needs further exploration. In this study, the apple fruit (Malus pumila Mill.) quality, soil physicochemical characteristics, and microbial community under different fertilizers including control without fertilizer (CK), composted manure (CM), biogas slurry (BS), and chemical fertilizer (CF) were systematically investigated, and each treatment was repeated three times in completely random block plots with equal NPK content of fertilizer applied in each treatment. The CM treated apple fruit were observed with the best vertical diameter (78.72 ± 4.32 mm), transverse diameter (87.51 ± 1.3 mm), and color index (L* = 55.48 ± 5.48, b* = 18.96 ± 1.86). Meanwhile, the CM and BS treated apple fruit had higher flesh firmness than that of CK and CF treatment, implying that the organic fertilization can improve the storability and crispy taste apple fruit. Furthermore, the total sugars, essential amino acid, crude protein, total acids, and soluble solid contents of apple fruit were also significantly improved by using CM and BS fertilizer due to the resulting higher N, P, and organics content in soil. The application of organic fertilizer also dramatically enhanced the bacterial and fungi diversity, which may contribute to better soil respiration. The results obtained in this study reveals the insight effect of organic fertilizer on improvement of fruit quality and soil health and can supply technical assistance to organic cultivation of apple.