Open AccessPotassium nutrition as a strategy to mitigate salt stress in melon grown under protected cultivation
Author(s) -
Giordanio Bruno Silva Oliveira,
Francisco de Assis de Oliveira,
S. T. Santos,
Mychelle Karla Teixeira de Oliveira,
Edna María Mendes Aroucha,
José Gustavo Lima de Almeida,
Paulo Victor de Menezes,
Mário J. V. Costa,
Francisco Felipe Barroso Pinto,
Francisco Adênio Teixeira Alves
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
semina. ciências agrárias
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.268
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1679-0359
pISSN - 1676-546X
DOI - 10.5433/1679-0359.2021v42n6p3219
Subject(s) - melon , nutrient , titratable acid , cultivar , chemistry , ascorbic acid , potassium , pulp (tooth) , randomized block design , horticulture , salinity , crop yield , agronomy , biology , food science , medicine , ecology , organic chemistry , pathology
The use of saline water is one of the major challenges of agriculture, as it can cause nutritional imbalances and thus reduce crop yield. This study proposes to examine the efficiency of potassium nutrition as a salt stress-mitigating agent in melon grown in a protected environment. The experiment was laid out in a randomized-block design with ten treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement represented by two melon cultivars (McLaren and SV1044MF) and four nutrient solutions (S1 - standard nutrient solution, 2.5 dS m-1; S2 - nutrient solution salinized with NaCl, 5.0 dS m-1; S3 - nutrient solution salinized with NaCl + 50% K, 6.5 dS m-1; and S4 - nutrient solution salinized with NaCl + 100% K, 7.5 dS m-1). Yield (average fruit weight, production, fruit diameter, internal cavity, and pulp thickness), quality (pulp firmness, total sugars, soluble solids [SS], vitamin C, pH, titratable acidity [TA] and SS/TA ratio) and nutritional (K, Na and K/Na ratio) variables were evaluated. Plants fertigated with standard nutrient solution showed the highest values for fruit weight (1,190.6 g), production (2,381.3 g per plant), fruit diameter (13.6 cm) and pulp thickness (2.6 cm). Cultivar McLaren produced heavier fruits (931.4 g) with larger diameter (12.4 cm) and pulp thickness (2.4 cm). The addition of NaCl to nutrient solution induced a reduction in the yield variables but did not influence fruit quality. The addition of extra K to salinized nutrient solution did not mitigate the deleterious effect of salinity on the yield of melon.