Influence of foliar-applied glycinebetaine on growth, yield and some key physiological and biochemical attributes of grape (Vitis vinifera L.)

Abstract

Glycinebetaine (GB) plays an imperative role to mitigate the opposing impact of several environmental stresses in various crops. The objective of this investigation was to scrutinize the response of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) to the foliar application of GB. Diverse levels of GB (0, 10, 20 and 30 mM) were applied three times with fifteen days interval to grape cv. King’s Ruby. All levels of GB improved the physiological, biochemical and growth attributes of the grape. As compared to control treatment, foliar spray of GB applied at 30 mM increased the number of leaves/vine, leaf area and number of newly emerged branches/plant by 20.55%, 12.28% and 48.13%, respectively. The pH of grape juice was decreased by increasing GB levels. However, total soluble solids, total chlorophyll contents, grape yield and photosynthesis rate was recorded maximum with foliar spray of GB applied at 30 mM. The regression model predicted that each increment in GB level enhanced the number of leaves/plant and the number of newly emerged branches/plant by 1.8 and 0.7, respectively. Thus, it is concluded that exogenous application GB applied at 30 mM might be more useful to obtain the optimum growth and quality of grapes.