Quality Of Eggplant Research Articles

Identification of miRNA targets in eggplant in response to Verticillium dahliae by degradome sequencing

Verticillium wilt is a vascular disease caused by Verticillium dahliae, which has a serious impact on the yield and quality of eggplant. MiRNAs regulates plant growth, development, environmental adaptation and other life activities by controlling the expression of target genes. Although miRNAs have been systematically studied by high-throughput sequencing in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), their target genes are not identified systematically, which would provide the basis for exploring the mechanism of miRNA mediated gene regulation in response to Verticillium wilt of eggplant. In this study, degradome sequencing was performed using two libraries separately prepared from mock-inoculated and V. dahliae-inoculated seedlings of eggplants. A total of 122 target genes for 49 miRNAs families were identified. Of them, 62 target genes were significantly induced by V. dahliae, including 34 targets were found only in the inoculated seedlings library and 28 targets were shown to be differentially expressed between both two libraries. Further analysis showed that a conserved miRNA could target various genes ranging from one up to 15 or a target gene could be cleaved by 1–5 different miRNAs. QRT-PCR analysis on five miRNAs and their target genes confirmed the reliability of the degradome sequencing data. GO analysis revealed that target genes owned diverse biological functions and transcription regulation was the largest functional category. Analysis on KEGG showed that target genes were mainly involved in plant-pathogen interaction pathway and plant hormone signal transduction pathway to resist disease. This result will provide basic information for further studying the regulatory mechanism of eggplant miRNAs in response to Verticillium wilt infection.

English

This study was conducted with an objective to determine the optimal negative pressure irrigation suitable for growth and development of eggplant. The total water consumption, yield, growth and development, physiological activity, and quality of eggplant were tested using a pot experiment in a greenhouse with four treatments, namely -3, -8, -15 kPa and normal irrigation (C). The negative pressure was maintained using a stable negative pressure irrigation device. The total water consumption of eggplant was decreased by 20.51–70.00%, the total water consumption intensity was decreased by 22.18–70.27%, and the water use efficiency was increased by up to 7.45–41.48% under negative pressure irrigation compared with control (C). When the irrigation pressure was controlled at -3 kPa, the nitrate reductase activity, root activity, and chlorophyll content were increased by 6.14–15.5%, 11.11–33.33% and 20.04–51.58%, respectively. The yield of eggplant was also increased by 12.43% compared with control. The soluble sugars, soluble protein, and vitamin C contents of eggplant fruits at different maturation stages were increased by 14.47–47.22%, 16.33–58.78%, and 19.64–43.42% at -3 kPa, respectively, compared with the control. Taken together, it was observed that stable negative pressure irrigation in the range of -3 to -15 kPa obviously reduced water consumption of eggplant, and had a water saving effect. Negative pressure irrigation (-3 kPa) improved the water use efficiency, physiological activity, growth and development, and yield and quality of eggplant. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers

Kinetic Analysis of Physical Quality Change on Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) during Storage

Eggplant is one of fruit much like by many people. Postharvest handling of eggplant could reduce losses due to short shelf life. One of the method to extend the shelf life of eggplant was stored at low temperature and soaked into solution of calcium cloride. The purpose of this research was to study kinetics eggplant quality during storage. Treatment to research was eggplant soaked in solution of calsium clorida (CaCl2) with concentration 0%, 1% and 2% then stored at 28°C and low temperature (9°C). Rate of quality is analyzed using kinetic equation. The kinetics of weight losses use zero-order, first-order was for hardness change and total dissolved solids. The research result showed that soaked into solution of calcium chloride (CaCl2) was capable of inhibiting the rate of change the quality of eggplant.

Irrigation with Magnetized Water Affects the Soil Microenvironment and Fruit Quality of Eggplants in a Covered Vegetable Production System in Shouguang City, China

The present study aimed to explore the mechanisms and soil properties of eggplant production and quality, as well as the bacterial community structure, soil physico-chemical properties, eggplant growth properties, and nutrient contents. A field experiment was performed in a seasonal crop of eggplants irrigated with magnetized water (MW) and nonmagnetized water (NMW). A magnetic field was used for water treatment in the MW groups. The soil nutrient contents as well as soil enzyme activities were significantly increased in the MW treatment compared with those in the NMW treatment. After irrigation with MW, the abundance of Proteobacteria in the soil significantly increased, while that of Firmicutes decreased in comparison with the NMW treatment. The bacterial diversity indexes operational taxonomic unit (OTU), Chao1 and ACE revealed increases of 3~24%. Additionally, the MW treatment increased the length, width, and fresh weight of the eggplant leaves by 17~29%, while the fruit length and width and the single fruit weight increased by 5~16%. The contents of vitamin C and organic acids in eggplant fruit in the MW treatment markedly increased by 25~34% compared with those in the NMW treatment. Likewise, the contents of mineral elements in the treated eggplants exhibited marked increases compared with the levels in the NMW treatment. Irrigation with MW had the potential to improve soil quality and change the community structure of the bacteria. Moreover, irrigation with MW could improve eggplant growth and output, hence promoting fruit quality. These results could provide a theoretical basis for the application of magnetics for improving crop production.

Harvest date affects purple eggplant quality and postharvest life

ABSTRACT Eggplant (Solanum melongena L) quality and storability can be influenced by time of harvest. Effects on sugars, antioxidants, chilling tolerance, and postharvest shelf-life of eggplant due to production cycle activities were determined. Late-season fruit had the highest sugars and antioxidants levels. Early-season fruit had the lowest level of pulp antioxidants. Mid-season fruit had longer postharvest shelf-life and enhanced chilling tolerance as evidenced by a reduction of scalds, browning, and weight loss and softening. No differences in postharvest responses were found between early- and late-season fruit. Activities during the harvest cycle might be used to predict eggplant postharvest responses.

Efficiency Response of Vermicompost and Vermitea Levels on Growth and Yield of Eggplant (Solanum melongena, L.)

This present aimed to convert chicken manure and kitchen wastes into vermicompost, which riches not only in macro (N, P, K) and micro (Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn) nutrients, but also phytohormones, antibiotics, different beneficial microbes and enzymes by red wiggler (Eisenia fetida). As well as use vermicompost at two levels (high = 6.5 and low= 3.5 t/fed.) with 3, 4 times and without of vermitea soil irrigated to increase the yield and quality of eggplant “cv. Black beauty” and may be a suitable replacement for chemical fertilizers. Each treatment had 3 replicates with 27 plants (9 plants/ plot) and RCBD were statistical analyzed. Effect of the treatments on the vegetation parameters, total yield and fruit quality of eggplant were determined. Investigation results cleared that, the application of high rate (6.5t/fed.) of vermicast + organic liquid (vermitea) 4 times as a soil drench lead to significantly increased on vegetative parameters e.g. plant height (157.67 cm. /plant), no. leaves/plant (141.6), no. of branches (9/plant), leaf area index (0.28), total cholorophyll (48.3 SPAD in leaves), no. of flowers (4.67/plant), no. of fruits/plant (4.67), fruit length and diameter (14.53 and 24.5 cm., respectively) and shoot dry weight (1511.2 g/plant) as an average of both sites compared to control plant. Quality nutritional status of eggplant fruits and green shoots biomass by using the high rate of vermicast (6.5t/fed.) + Vermitea (4 times) as an organic liquid on soil drenches (T1) more than other treatments. Significant increases in N (1.68), P (0.39) and K (3.45 mg/g) uptake of shoots, as an average of both sites at T1, but the lowest significant means were (0.88, 0.21 and 1.81 mg/g) of NPK uptake in shoots in the treated plants with R100% of NPK chemical fertilizers. T1 = high rate (6.5t/fed.) of vermicompost + fourth soil drench of vermitea gave the highest values in the chemical components of fruits. Significant increases of the percentage of N (3.5), P (0.40), K (2.1) and the highest significant amount of anthocyanin was 516.7 mg/g in fruits by treated plants with T1. Although, the lowest significant means were (1.8, 0.21 and 1.4 %) of fruits at T7 (=the recommended doses of NPK chemical fertilizers). As well as, this article revealed that, the high concentrations of vermicast and vermitea must be for improving plant health, protection growth and provides the optimum eggplant production.

Effect of plant growth regulators and deficit irrigation on canopy traits, yield, water productivity and fruit quality of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) grown in the water scarce environment

Deficit irrigation (DI) and plant growth regulators (PGRs) have strategic role for sustaining crop productivity and mitigating water stress in drought prone areas. However, their impacts are yet to be quantified for eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), a popular drought tolerant vegetable crop grown in water scarce Deccan Plateau of India. We conducted field experiments during 2016–17 and 2017–18 in a drought prone region of Deccan Plateau, India to evaluate the interactive effect of PGRs viz., 1.38 mg L−1 salicylic acid (SA), 1.5% potassium nitrate (PN), 500 ppm thio-urea (TU) and 100 ml L−1 bio-stimulant (BS) and varied levels of DI generated using line source sprinkler system. The marketable fruit yields were reduced to 86, 74, 50, 30, 12 and 8% with increased level of DI i.e. when the applied irrigation water (IW) equalled 0.00, 0.15, 0.30, 0.45, 0.60 and 0.75 times the cumulative open pan evaporation (CPE) against the recommended irrigation practice (IW:CPE 0.90). Application of PGRs improved fruit yields by 7.3–22.7% and their role to alleviate water stress was indicated by lower canopy temperatures, maintaining higher leaf relative water content, modulation of stomatal opening and higher consumptive use of water. Particularly SA and TU were superior under low to medium water stress (IW:CPE 0.45–0.75) whereas PN was effective in severe water stress (IW:CPE 0.0–0.44) while the effect of BS was almost similar with PGRs like TU under medium stress conditions. The maximum water productivity (WP) varied between 5.50 and 6.77 kg m−3 for different PGRs and it was 5.16 kg m−3 without PGRs indicating water savings to the order of 28.8–57.4% with the former. The fruit quality attributes such as mean diameter, sphericity, fruit weight and firmness traits declined with water stress while these were considerably rectified with PGRs. Higher accumulation of dry matter, sugar, protein, total phenolics, flavonoids and improved rehydration quality as well as potentially affecting enzymatic activity were monitored with PGRs. It is concluded that exogenous application of PGRs like SA and PN along with medium levels of DI can help in rational utilization of water resources and could effectively improve yield and post-harvest quality of eggplant fruits especially under water scarce environment of Deccan Plateau.

Polysaccharide-Based Edible Coatings Improve Eggplant Quality in Postharvest Storage

Eggplant fruits are highly perishable as they have a short shelf life after harvesting. To prolong the shelf life of perishable goods, application of edible coatings has been utilized. Edible coatings have been used in various agricultural commodities to preserve their quality and prolong their postharvest life. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different polysaccharide-based edible coatings on the physico-chemical, biochemical, and physiological properties of eggplant fruits. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design with nine (9) treatments and three (3) replications. Four (4) edible coatings were evaluated at two different concentrations. Sodium alginate (AL), pectin (PE), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and cornstarch (CS) were tested at 1 and 2% concentrations. On days 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12, samples were taken for the physicochemical, biochemical, and physiological analysis. The results of the study showed that the application of polysaccharide-based edible coatings significantly reduced weight loss and shriveling It also maintained firmness and VQR, prolonged shelf life, enhanced pH, TSS, TA, preserved vitamin C content, maintained moisture and dry matter content, and reduced respiration and microbial count of eggplant without significantly affecting ethylene production. The different coatings (alginate, pectin, carboxymethyl cellulose, and cornstarch) significantly maintained the quality of eggplants for eight (8) days compared to the control. Among the different coatings tested, alginate showed the best result in maintaining the quality of eggplant fruit. It significantly reduced weight loss, shriveling, and microbial count, and preserved vitamin C content. Therefore, edible coatings, especially alginate, are effective in maintaining eggplant quality during postharvest storage.

Integrated Nutrient Management for Eggplant: Yield and Quality Models through Artificial Neural Network

ABSTRACT Eggplant is a preferred vegetable for its nutritional quality and taste. India is the second largest eggplant producer in the world, but the productivity is far below the global average. The present experiment was conducted at the Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India (23°N, 89°E, characteristically Aeric Haplaquept) for consecutive three years to assess the role of selected biofertilizer (Azospirillum, phosphate solubilizing bacteria or PSB) and micronutrient-fertilizer (iron sulfate, zinc sulfate and borax) application in augmenting yield and quality of eggplant (cv. F1-hybrid VNR-60). The experiment was laid out in a thrice replicated factorial randomized block design. Along with regular chemical fertilizers, application of bacterial fertilizers, alone as well as in combination with micronutrients, significantly improved the yield (13.10–15.35 t ha−1) over the control (9.83–12.39 t ha−1). Eggplant yield and quality models developed through artificial neutral network showed that fruit phosphorus (P) concentration was most important factor toward yield prediction followed by zinc (Zn) and soil available iron (Fe) concentration, respectively. Fruit nitrogen (N) concentration showed the highest sensitivity followed by soil available boron (B) and fruit potassium (K) concentration toward protein content. Application of B emerged to be most beneficial along with Azospirillum and PSB in attaining best yield, soil nutrient availabilities and plant nutritional recoveries.

EFFECT OF PLANTING DATE AND FOLIAR FEEDING ON PRODUCTIVITY AND FRUIT QUALITY OF EGGPLANT

A factorial experiment (2 transplanting dates X 3 foliar feeding levels) in split plot design was conducted at Gemmeiza Agric. Res. Station, Gharbeya Governorate, Egypt during 2016 and 2017 growing summer seasons aiming to evaluate effects of transplanting date and foliar feeding with NPK and their interactions on growth, productivity and fruit quality of eggplant (Solanum melongena L,) c.v. Black Beauty. The two tested transplanting dates were summer transplanting on April and late summer on June. While, the three examined foliar feeding levels were spraying with tap water as control, spraying with Potassium-F fertilizer at rate of 3 ml/L or with Raizante fertilizer at rate of 2 ml/L. Foliar spray was done three times throughout growing season. Summer transplanting (April) significantly increased plant height, branches and leaves numbers/ plant and leaf area. Also, leaf percentages of N, P and K as well as total chlorophyll content were increased in April transplanting. Finally, total fruit yield (Ton/ fed) and its quality, expressed as more contents of total soluble solids (%) and total sugars (g/ 100 g D.W.) and less contents of total phenols (mg/ g D.W.) and acidity (%) in fruit tissues, were significantly increased in April transplanting comparing to late summer transplanting (June). Foliar spraying with Potassium-F at 3 ml/L or Raizante at 2 ml/L significantly increased all the above mentioned growth traits and leaf chemical constituents and in turn resulted significant increases in total fruit yield/ fed comparing to unfertilized control plants. Also, spraying Potassium–F or Raizante significantly reduced fruit firmness (kg/ cm2) and fruit contents of total phenols and titratable acidity, at the same time significantly increased total soluble solids, total sugars and K (%) in fruit tissues. Raizante spray was more effective than Potassium-F in enhancing plant growth and fruit yield and its quality. Conclusively: when transplanting date interacted with foliar feeding, different significant responses were found. In general, interaction treatment of summer transplanting (April transplanting date) X foliar feeding with Raizante at 2 ml/L significantly increased plant growth traits and leaf contents of N, P, K and chlorophylls. Such interaction treatment resulted in the highest total fruit yield/ fed with the highest quality (high total soluble solids and total sugars and less total phenols and acidity in fruits) comparing all other interaction treatments.

Influence of soursop (<i>Annona muricata</i> L.) leaf extract on quality indices of stored fruits of field grown egg plant (<i>Solanum melongena</i> L.)

The use of various plant leaf and spices extracts that are economically and environmentally friendly during pre-harvest and postharvest stages are becoming popular among researchers in recent year to enhance the shelf life and quality of fruits. The main objective of the study is to assess the effect of Soursop (Annona muricata) extracts on physical parameters and quality of stored egg plant (Solanum melongena L.). The experiment was carried out at the Department of Crop Science and Biotechnology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Imo State University, Owerri. The experimental design was Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with four treatments levels and four replications. The treatments are control (T1), 25% ethanol extraction (T2), 50% ethanol extract (T3) and 75% ethanol (T4) extract of plant extracts (Soursop). Fruits of egg plant were dipped for 5 minutes and 10minutes in ethanol extract (25%, 50% and 75%) of Soursop leaf and stored at laboratory temperature. Analysis of physical parameters was done at 24hours Interval while proximate analysis was done at the end of the storage period. After 3-6 Days the highest colour change (60%) and decrease in shrinking (73.33%) were recorded in control.T3 for 5 minutes and 10 minutes soaking period gave the lowest percentage of physiological weight loss of 13.2% and 13.81% respectively which were significantly different(p<0.05) from 18.19% and 17.63% respectively recorded from control. The result of proximate composition, revealed that T4 recorded the highest Crude protein of 14.61% and 14.79% from 5 minutes and 10 minutes soaking period which was significantly different (p<0.05) from control. However, Application of Soursop plant extracts improved nutritional quality of egg plant and reduced physical degradation.Keywords: Soursop, plant extracts, physical parameters, and egg plants

Calcium treatment and harvesting stage influence on textural quality of eggplant (cv. Africa black beauty) fruits

Calcium treatment and harvesting stage influence on textural quality of eggplant (cv. Africa black beauty) fruits

Effect of low-temperature conditioning combined with methyl jasmonate treatment on the chilling resistance of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) fruit.

Chilling injury (CI) can injure harvested eggplants and lead to a reduction in postharvest quality. The present study examined the effect of low-temperature conditioning (LTC) combined with a methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment on CI by analyzing the visual appearance and physiology of eggplants stored at 4°C. Results indicated that treatment of eggplants with LTC+MeJA effectively maintained the visual quality of eggplants, inhibited a decline in chlorophyll and total phenolics, delayed the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), decreased polyphenol oxidase (PPO) gene expression and enzyme activity, and enhanced the activity of the antioxidant enzymes, catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD), as well as the expression of their corresponding genes. Collectively, the data indicate that LTC combined with MeJA effectively improves the CI tolerance of postharvest eggplant fruit stored at 4°C, by enhancing the activity and relative gene expression of antioxidant enzymes.

Effect of Iron and Selenium on Growth, Yield and Quality of Eggplant under Different Mineral Fertilization Levels

Effect of Iron and Selenium on Growth, Yield and Quality of Eggplant under Different Mineral Fertilization Levels

Optimizing fertilization scheme of N, P2O5 and K2O concentration for eggplant under soilless culture.

To get optimal nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P2O5) and potassium (K2O) concentrations range for high quality and yield of eggplant with vermiculite as cultivation substrate, three factors and quadratic saturation D-optimal regression (310) were used to establish a ternary quadratic mathematical model with N, P2O5 and K2O concentrations as independent variables and eggplant yield and quality as objective functions. The results showed that yield and quality of eggplants were significantly influenced by N, P2O5 and K2O concentrations. The yield was most influenced by K2O concentration, and followed by N and then P2O5. The quality was also most influenced by K2O concentration, and followed by P2O5 and then N. There were significant interactive effects of N+P2O5, N+K2O and P2O5+K2O on yield, and significant interaction of N+K2O on eggplant quality. Under lower concentrations, the yield and quality of eggplants enhanced with the increasing N, P2O5 and K2O concentrations. When the nutrient concentrations exceeded a threshold, both yield and quality decreased. According to computer simulations, the yield could reach to 3600 g·plant-1 when the fertilization schemes were N 16.0-20.0 mmol·L-1, P2O5 2.2-2.6 mmol·L-1 and K2O 9.9-12.9 mmol·L-1; the fertilization scheme needed to obtain a comprehensive quality score of higher than 90 were N 18.0-21.1 mmol·L-1, P2O5 1.9-2.6 mmol·L-1 and K2O 10.6-13.3 mmol·L-1. In summary, fertilization scheme of high yield (43.2 kg·plot-1) and high quality(comprehensive score of higher than 90) of eggplants were N 18.0-20.0 mmol·L-1, P2O5 2.2-2.6 mmol·L-1, K2O 10.6-12.9 mmol·L-1, with an appropriate N, P2O5 and K2O proportion of 1:0.13:0.62.

Production of Free Amino Acid and Short Peptide Fertilizer from Rapeseed Meal Fermentation Using Bacillus flexus NJNPD41 for Promoting Plant Growth

Free amino acids and short peptides (FAPS) that play an important role in plant nutrition can be extracted from rapeseed meal (RSM) by microbial enzymolysis. The enzymolytic activity of one bacterial strain isolated from RSM for the production of FAPS fertilizer (FAPSF) via solid-state fermentation, as well as its detoxification activity for isothiocyanates and oxazolidinethione, was investigated in this study. The strain NJNPD41 isolated from RSM piled-soil possessed effective proteolytic activity and was identified as Bacillus flexus on the basis of its morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties, as well as 16S rDNA analysis. Compared to the uninoculated control, inoculation with the strain NJNPD41 significantly increased the yield of total free amino acids and short peptides by 115% and decreased the content of isothiocyanates and oxazolidinethione by 53% and 60%, respectively, after solid-state fermentation. The pot and field experiments showed that FAPSF significantly promoted eggplant growth and enhanced the fruit yield and quality of eggplant compared to the control. In conclusion, this study provided a novel method for the high-value utilization of RSM to produce high-quality and low-toxicity FAPSF using the newly isolated strain B. flexus NJNPD41.

Effect of some Treatments on Reducing Salinity Injuries Effect on Growth, Yield and Quality of Eggplant

A field experiment was carried out at a private Farm in Rowad Village belong to Sahl El-Husseiniya, Sharkia Governorate during the two growing seasons of 2016 and 2017 to study the effect of spraying potassium silicate and adding ammonium thiosulfate (ATS)as soil drenching at three levels on vegetative growth, yield and its components and chemical constituents of eggplant grown under salinity soil( Black Beauty cultivar). The experiment was carried out by using split-plots system in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The main plots were arranged with potassium silicate treatments. While, the sub-plots assigned to ammonium thiosulfate levels. The obtained results of this investigation can be summarized as follows: Foliar spraying eggplant plants with potassium silicate levels significantly improved vegetative growth, the yield and its components along with chemical constituents either in the leaves or in the fruits compared with control treatment during both seasons. The highest values of these traits were resulted from using concentration of 6 cm potassium silicate/L in both seasons. Concerning to the effect of ammonium thiosulfate ,it can said that vegetative growth, yield and its components and chemical constituents of either the leaves or in the fruits of eggplant were significantly influenced by different ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) levels adding as drenching around the plants in the both seasons. The maximum values of these characters were produced from using 15 L/fed or 10 L/fed of ATS, respectively in both seasons.While the favourable results on the growth,yield and its components as well as the chemical constituents in the leaves or the fruits were obtained from the interaction between the treatment of foliar spray with 6 cm potassium silicate and adding 15 L/fed from ammonium thiosulfate as soil drenching to obtain the highest results. For that, it could be recommended that foliar spraying eggplant plants grown under salinity soil with 6 cm potassium silicate/L 3 times with using 15 L ATS/fed as soil drenching to enhance vegetative growth characters, yield and its components and chemical constituents of eggplant fruits under the environmental condition of this research.

Agricultural practices, biology and quality of eggplant cultivated in Central Europe. A review

The eggplant is a warm-climate crop of high economic importance. In many Asian and Mediterranean countries, eggplants are essential components of everyday dishes, while in Central Europe they have become popular only in recent years. Eggplants are harvested at an immature stage and have low storage value; therefore, the sale of fruits in local markets requires an appropriate production strategy. In Poland, consumer demand for eggplants is currently met by imports and domestic production, which, until recently, has been carried out only in greenhouses, ensuring the availability of fresh fruits but resulting in high selling prices. The demand for eggplants is growing among Polish consumers, and, accordingly, field production is expected to gradually gain in importance due to the fruit’s profitability. Accordingly, the biology and farming practices of this warm-climate crop remain in the investigation phase in temperate climate. This review aims to report the status of current knowledge regarding the technologies affecting the biology, cultivation, and nutritional value of eggplant grown in temperate climatic zone.

Seed production potentiality in yield and quality of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) Grown under summer and winter seasons

Two separate field experiments were conducted at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur during April to October 2012 (summer season) and October 2012 to March 2013 (winter season) to evaluate and compare the seasonal effect on fruit set, seed yield and seed quality of eggplant. Six eggplant varieties (BARI Begun-1, BARI Begun-5, BARI Begun- 6, BARI Begun-8, BARI Begun-9 and Khotkhotia) were grown separately with proper isolation in both the seasons. Significant variation in fruit set per plant, seed yield per fruit and seed quality of eggplant were observed due to execution of growing seasons. The highest seed yield per fruit was obtained from BARI Begun-6 in both the seasons. Number of fruits per plant, seeds per fruit and 1000-seed weight showed the highest in winter season (October to March) as a result the highest seed yield was obtained from the same season. Winter season also showed the best seed quality attributes like germination (%), co-efficient of germination and vigour index irrespective of variety used. Based on seed yield and seed quality, winter season (October to March) found to be more favourable for quality seed production of eggplant in Bangladesh condition.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 42(3): 437-446, September 2017

Influence of Mineral Fertilization Rate and Foliar Application of Yeast and Ascorbic Acid on Yield, Vegetative Growth and Fruits Quality of Eggplant.

The experiments were carried in clay soil at the Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agricultural, El-Mansoura University, Egypt, to investigate the effect of foliar application with yeast and ascorbic acid on plant growth, yield and quality of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) under different levels of NPK fertilization. Vegetative growth measurements (plant height, No. of leaves/plant, No. of branches/plant, fresh and dry weight), yield (fruits length, fruit diameter, No. of fruits and total yield), N, P, K and chlorophyll content as well as quality of fruits (C.protien, T.carbohydraties, D.faiber, V.C and V.A) were recorded to study the effects. As for, parameters of eggplant as affected by application of NPK fertilization there were a significantly increase with increasing rate of NPK from 50 up to 100% of the recommended dose then decreased with 150% NPK. The highest significant values of the aforementioned parameters were recorded with spraying plants by yeast extract (5 g/L.) comparing with the untreated plants. It could be observed that eggplants supplied with 100% NPK fertilization and foliar application of yeast gave the highest significant values of parameters under study.