Abstract
The aim of this research was to evaluate postharvest cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum (L.) Mill.) yield and fruit quality as affected by grafting and irrigation water quality in the desert region of Israel. Tomato plants (scion cv. Lorka) were grafted onto 3 commercial tomato rootstocks (Resistar, Beaufort and TRS2) and were irrigated with 2 water qualities: fresh water (electrical conductivity (EC)-1.6 dS m−1) and salty water (EC-4.0 dS m−1). Fresh water significantly increased fruit yield by an average of 17% and fruit size, regardless of plant grafting and rootstock, but there were no significant differences in fruit size between the water treatments. However, salty water, but not grafting, significantly improved several quality parameters of fruit stored for 12 d at 12 °C followed by 2 d at 20 °C in simulated sea transport of produce from Israel to Europe and marketing. Fruit harvested from plants irrigated with salty water showed higher sweetness, sourness and, especially, better general taste, and significantly reduced off-flavor, compared with those irrigated with fresh water. The combination of ‘Lorka’ on ‘Resistar’ rootstock and resulted in the best external, internal, and sensory quality parameters at the end of storability and marketing simulation, while the lowest-quality parameters were in fruit harvested from ‘Lorka’ on ‘Beaufort’ rootstock.
Highlights
Biotic and abiotic stresses are the factors that most limit horticultural productivity worldwide [1,2].During the present decade salinity and drought were the two main abiotic stresses in the southern part of Israel—a region that is predominantly arid and that is affected by salinity because of very low rainfall, high evapotranspiration and saline groundwater
100 m3 ha−1, and before planting it was sterilized with Condor electrical conductivity (EC) nematocide (Soiltech, Petach Tikva, Israel) and Adigan Super metam sodium (Agan Chemicals, Ashdod, Israel) at the manufacturers’
17%, compared that increased fruitfruit yieldyield by anby average of 17%,ofcompared with thatwith obtained obtained with saline water1)
Summary
Biotic and abiotic stresses are the factors that most limit horticultural productivity worldwide [1,2].During the present decade salinity and drought were the two main abiotic stresses in the southern part of Israel—a region that is predominantly arid and that is affected by salinity because of very low rainfall, high evapotranspiration and saline groundwater. Most of the available underground water had an electrical conductivity (EC) of about 4 dS m−1 , which could negatively affect plant growth and yield [3]. One method of modifying plants to resist environmental stresses involves grafting commercial cultivars onto selected vigorous rootstocks [4]. Grafting is regarded as a faster alternative to the relatively slow practice of breeding for increased environmental stress tolerance in fruit and vegetables [5]; the grafted plant takes up water and nutrients from the soil more efficiently than the Horticulturae 2019, 5, 35; doi:10.3390/horticulturae5020035 www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae. Various rootstock/scion combinations may have positive or negative effects on final plant or fruit size, and on fruit yield and quality, both directly after harvest and during subsequent prolonged storage [8,9,10,11]
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