Abstract
Demands for tomato local varieties are increasing worldwide, especially in organic farming mainly for their high sensory value and attractive appearance. This is the case of the “Moruno” tomato type, widely grown in the Mediterranean countries and greatly due to its highly appreciated organoleptic attributes but low yield or a short postharvest period. For this reason, the study aimed to assess if grafting of local “Moruno” populations (Mor-62, Mor-204) using commercial rootstocks (King-Kong F1, K; Multifort F1, M; Spirit F1, S) affects yield, fruit nutritional and functional composition, postharvest storage and consumer acceptance. Results showed differences between both populations, while rootstocks were only different for the glucose content and the flavour quality. Grafting improved the marketable yield (~43%), fruit number (~22%) and mean fruit weight (~12%), but had no incidence on the blossom-end rot disorder. This technique increased the carotenoid (lycopene, β-carotene and total carotene) content but decreased the organic acids (malic and citric) and sugar (fructose and glucose) rates, while ascorbic acid was not affected. The fruit postharvest storage was not practically modified. However, the overall flavour preference and visual appearance varied depending on the scion.
Highlights
Grafting is the union of two or more pieces of living plant tissue that grow as a single plant, after a complex process of formation of the connective structure between the rootstock and scion[5]
Among the different components of tomato fruits, the antioxidant group composed of carotenoids and ascorbic acid are very important for human health and crucial to the nutritional and functional value of tomato fruit, and due to the high consumption rates of these vegetables in our diet, they can provide a significant part of the total intake of these components[17]
The comparison of the two ungrafted populations of the “Moruno” tomato type (Mor-62 and Mor-204) indicates that Mor-204 had a 70% and a 94% higher marketable and total fruit number than Mor-62, respectively, the mean marketable fruit weight was 45% lower (Table 1)
Summary
Grafting is the union of two or more pieces of living plant tissue that grow as a single plant, after a complex process of formation of the connective structure between the rootstock and scion[5]. A detailed review about the general effect of this technique on vegetable crops can be consulted in recent reports[7,8,9]. One of the most important horticultural crops in the world, the effect of grafting has been widely studied. These effects can be summarized as limiting the effects of soil-borne diseases, increasing plant vigour and crop yield under normal growing conditions[6], or inducing tolerance to abiotic stresses[10,11,12]. In relation to the effect of grafting on tomato fruit quality, the results are contradictory[13]. Www.nature.com/scientificreports general sweetness decreases and carotenoids increase in grafted tomato fruits. To the best of our knowledge, no information is available about how grafting affects the postharvest period of stored fruits, which is very important for producer and consumer satisfaction, especially for traditional cultivars
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