Influence of Wild Relative Rootstocks on Eggplant Growth, Yield and Fruit Physicochemical Properties under Open Field Conditions

Ibrahim Musa,Samuel Chibuike Chukwu,Shairul Izan Ramlee,Usman Magaji,Isma’ila Muhammad,Mohd Y. Rafii,Nur Nadzirah Mat Sulaiman,Khairulmazmi Ahmad,Muhammad Asyraf Md Hatta

doi:10.3390/agriculture11100943

Ibrahim Musa, Samuel Chibuike Chukwu + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11100943

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Abstract

Eggplant is an essential vegetable crop that is rich in health-related compounds, and the content of these compounds can be increased through grafting. It was reported that grafting with vigorous wild relatives’ rootstocks can improve eggplant’s fruit quality. The study was conducted to investigate the fruit yield, composition and physicochemical traits of Solanum melongena ME, CE, NE and TE scions grafted on wild relatives’ rootstocks of ST, SM and SI. The results show that a notable graft success (100%) was recorded in grafted (TE/ST) and self-grafted (TE/TE) plants using the cleft technique. Growth and yield traits indicated that CE and TE scions grafted onto ST, SM and SI showed better performance in all of the traits mentioned above in an open field across two years, except first flower formation which was displayed on non-grafted CE. In all the rootstocks studied—ST, SM and SI—there was no noticeable effect on carbohydrate, fibre, ash, pH and dry matter content. There was a notable effect of grafting ME/ST, CE/ST, ME/SM, CE/SI, ME/SI, ME/SI and NE/SM on the fruit length, fruit width, total soluble solids, fruit firmness and fat and protein content, respectively. Furthermore, antioxidants such as DPPH (ME/SM), total flavonoids (NE/SM) and total phenolics (TE/SI) had remarkable content of the above-mentioned physicochemical properties. Results show that ST, SM and SI represent a viable rootstock alternative to Solanum melongena or Solanum lycopersicum production.

Highlights

The results show that the cleft grafting technique was highly successful, with more than 90% graft success in all treatments
The demand for vegetable fruits that are high in chemicals that are beneficial to human health is rapidly increasing
This research showed that using a variety of rootstocks can improve eggplant plant vigour and production, apparent fruit quality, flavour-related attributes, fruit proximate and nutritionally important content and health-promoting antioxidants

Summary

Introduction

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is commonly cultivated and consumed in Southern and Southeast Asia and has increased in popularity in Malaysia as a specialty vegetable [1]. The eggplant is ranked as the third most important crop from the Solanaceae family after potato and tomato with an annual production of 55,197,878.00 million tons [2]. The leading producing countries are China and India followed by Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Italy, Iraq and the Philippines [2]. Rootstocks with good compatibility and tolerance or resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses are ideal for grafting vegetables and encourage scion growth, increase production and do not decrease produce quality [3]. Several studies have already been conducted to investigate various eggplant wild rootstocks

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