Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of different rootstocks on the yield and quality of eggplant cv. ‘Madonna’ in soilless pot culture in an unheated polyethylene greenhouse. The eggplant was grafted onto several rootstocks, including tomato rootstocks Optifort (O) and Emperador (E), and four Solanum rootstocks; Solanum grandiflorum × Solanum melongena (SH), Solanum torvum (ST), Solanum melongena × Solanum integrifolium (SI), and Solanum integrifolium (A) compared with self-grafted (SG) and self-rooted (SR) as control. The results showed that the total marketable yield significantly increased by grafting onto ST (3.94 kg/plant), SH (3.36 kg/plant), and A (3.34 kg/plant) relative to SR (1.65 kg/plant). The chromatics characters of skin and pulp are slightly influenced by rootstocks. Our findings confirmed that grafting eggplant decreased firmness (except SH) of the flesh. Fruit harvested from the Optifort/Madonna combination had the rounded shape, lowest firmness, and Brix value, while the lowest oxidation potential was observed in this combination. The highest seed number was observed in SH/Madonna and SI/Madonna combinations. During the sensory evaluation, the lightest fruit flesh was found in SR, ST, and O, and the sweetest taste was observed in fruits harvested from ST rootstock.
Highlights
The eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the top ten vegetables that originated from SoutheastAsia; it has a high antioxidant capability and nutrient value
The study was arranged based on completely randomized design (CRD) to understand the effect of different rootstocks suitable for eggplant grafting, including Solanum grandiflorum × Solanum melongena (SH), Solanum torvum (ST), Solanum melongena × Solanum integrifolium (SI), and Solanum integrifolium (A) and tomato rootstocks (Solanum lycopersicum), including cv
Our results showed that the total marketable fruit number significantly increased by grafting in comparison with SR and SG
Summary
The eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the top ten vegetables that originated from Southeast. Asia; it has a high antioxidant capability and nutrient value. Soil-borne diseases, and biotic and abiotic stresses have limited the yield in many commercial eggplant plantations. Vegetable grafting is considered to be a rapid alternative way to slow breeding due to the absence of resistance genotype [1]. Grafting has been found effective for resistance advantages and for the improvement of production and some quality traits of the fruit [2,3]. Eggplant grafting was started in the early 1950s by using Scarlet eggplant as rootstocks [4]. Several studies have already investigated different eggplant scion-rootstock combinations [5,6,7,8]
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