Effect of vineyard soil variability on chlorophyll fluorescence, yield and quality of table grape as influenced by soil moisture, grown under double cropping system in protected condition.

Sangeeta Mitra,Hafiz Muhammad Rizwan,Dongliang Qiu,Min Li,Xiaocao Lu,Zhipeng Qiu,Muhammad Irshad,Biswojit Debnath,Chandra Kanta Dash

doi:10.7717/peerj.5592

Abstract

Environmental factors greatly influence grape quality. Among them, the effect of within-vineyard variability of soil in relation to soil moisture on table grape under protected condition has rarely been studied. In this present research, we investigated the influence of soil variability, in relation with soil moisture on chlorophyll fluorescence, yield and quality attributes of the “Summer Black” (Vitis vinifera L. × V. labruscana L.) table grape, popularly grown under double cropping system in protected covering in the southern part of China. The vineyard was divided vertically into three sites (lower, middle and upper, 192, 202 and 212 m above sea level, respectively) and data on soil moisture and other yield and quality parameters were recorded. Among the three vineyard sites, middle site resulted in higher yield compared to the upper and lower sites during winter and summer cropping cycles. However, compared to regular summer cycle, winter cycle provided grapevines with higher quality attributes. Polyphasic OJIP fluorescence transient exhibited a considerable increase in fluorescence intensity at J, I and P phase in the upper and middle sites compared to the lower site due to variation in soil moisture in both seasons. Values of fluorescence parameters including minimal fluorescence, relative variable fluorescence at phase J and I, the maximal quantum yield of photosystem II were also influenced by soil moisture in different sites. Different sites also exhibited a significant difference in total phenolics, flavonoid, antioxidant activity and individual anthocyanin which was influenced by available soil moisture. The present study shows that chlorophyll fluorescence OJIP transient can be used as a sensitive indicator to determine the moisture stress in grape grown in a varied soil. Double cropping proved to be a powerful technique to improve the fruit quality. This result may be useful for the table grape growers to better utilize the vineyard soil variability with water management to get higher yield and quality table grape under protected condition.

Highlights

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is an important perennial fruit crop that grown worldwide
We investigated the effects of within-vineyard soil variability on chlorophyll fluorescence, yield and quality parameters of table grape grown under double cropping system a unique viticulture practice where grape is harvested twice, during winter and summer
We investigated the effects of within-vineyard variability in soil on chlorophyll fluorescence, yield and quality parameters of table grape under double cropping system, popularly practices in Southern China in the protected condition as influenced by soil moisture

Summary

Introduction

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is an important perennial fruit crop that grown worldwide. Table grape quality depends upon both biophysical and biochemical traits like size, color, firmness, TSS (total soluble solids) and acidity (Champa, 2015; Williams, Grimes & Phene, 2010). Various environmental factors such as climate, soil type, altitude, topography, water availability and temperature have been reported to influence grape and wine quality substantially (Bramley, Ouzman & Boss, 2011; Gomez-Miguez et al, 2007; Koundouras et al, 2006; Vilanova et al, 2012). Unlike high altitude, which has been found to have strong influence on grape quality (Alessandrini et al, 2016), soil variability within a vineyard even with lower elevation may influence grape yield and quality which has not been studied previously

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Conclusion