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Influence of phosphorus management on melon ( Cucumis melo L.) fruit quality
Author(s) -
Martuscelli Maria,
Di Mattia Carla,
Stagnari Fabio,
Speca Stefano,
Pisante Michele,
Mastrocola Dino
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.7390
Subject(s) - melon , cucumis , fertigation , aroma , carotenoid , flesh , horticulture , yield (engineering) , biology , chemistry , agronomy , mathematics , food science , irrigation , materials science , metallurgy
BACKGROUND At harvest time, melon quality is related to internal and external parameters, which are very important for consumer attractiveness and marketable yield. Several agronomic factors can affect the quality of melon fruits and among them mineral availability may play a significant role. Therefore the aim of the work was to investigate the effect of phosphorus fertigation on melon fruit ( Cucumis melo L.) qualitative characteristics, such as fruit size and yield, pulp colour and firmness, aroma and taste, as well as the accumulation of bioactive antioxidant compounds, namely phenols and carotenoids, and their antiradical properties. RESULTS Results allowed us to extrapolate the optimal P doses to be used for melon fertigation, to achieve high yield and fruit quality characteristics. Modelling the optimal P dose allowed us to maximize yield and resulted in around 257 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 , even if the quality indices relating to carotenoid content, texture and colour of the melon flesh were not significantly different between samples fertigated with the two highest levels tested. CONCLUSION It can be assumed that the level of 200 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 would be a good compromise between optimization of agronomic performance and melon fruit quality. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry