Natural Ecosystem Surrounding a Conventional Banana Crop Improves Plant Health and Fruit Quality.

Florence P Castelan,Maria F N S Cálhau,Talita P Nascimento,Lorenzo A Saraiva,Beatriz R Cordenunsi-Lysenko,Victor C Castro-Alves,Carlos T S Dias

doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.00759

Abstract

Natural ecosystems near agricultural landscapes may provide rich environments for growing crops. However, the effect of a natural ecosystem on crop health and fruit quality is poorly understood. In the present study, it was investigated whether the presence of a natural ecosystem surrounding a crop area influences banana plant health and fruit postharvest behavior. Plants from two conventional banana crop areas with identical planting time and cultural practices were used; the only difference between banana crop areas is that one area was surrounded by a natural forest (Atlantic forest) fragment (Near-NF), while the other area was inserted at the center of a conventional banana crop (Distant-NF). Results showed that bananas harvested from Near-NF showed higher greenlife and a more homogeneous profile during ripening compared to fruits harvested from Distant-NF. Differences in quality parameters including greenlife, carbohydrate profile, and pulp firmness between fruits harvested from Near-NF and Distant-NF are explained, at least partly, by differences in the balance of plant growth regulators (indole-3-acetic acid and abscisic acid) in bananas during ripening. Furthermore, plants from Near-NF showed a lower severity index of black leaf streak disease (BLSD) and higher levels of phenolic compounds in leaves compared to plants from Distant-NF. Together, the results provide additional evidence on how the maintenance of natural ecosystems near conventional crop areas could be a promising tool to improve plant health and fruit quality.

Highlights

The exchange between organisms, materials, and energy occurs in between different ecosystems
Using an innovative experimental approach, this work explored whether the proximity to the natural biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest influences the postharvest behavior of banana fruit, as well as some aspects of crop health
Biochemical analysis and evaluation of postharvest parameters revealed that banana fruits from the Near Natural Forest (Near-NF) ripened later and came from healthier plants with lower Black leaf streak disease (BLSD)-severity index (SI)

Summary

Introduction

The exchange between organisms, materials, and energy occurs in between different ecosystems. Despite issues related to sampling standardization (Bourn and Prescott, 2002) and field variables (Seufert et al, 2012; Connor, 2013), most of studies showed that organic food crops appear to grow in a healthier manner compared to conventional crops. A reduced yield performance of organic crops compared to conventional crops is discussed (De Ponti et al, 2012; Seufert et al, 2012; Connor, 2013), organic/sustainable crops are commonly associated with increased plant health and fruit quality and if these crops were based on a diversified system, the yield performance gap appears to reduce, suggesting that this gap is a matter of management investment in agrobiodiversity improvement (Ponisio et al, 2015)

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Results

Conclusion