Effects of Potassium Application on Flavor Compounds of Cherry Tomato Fruits

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of potassium (K) application on volatile compounds, taste compounds, and firmness of fresh tomato fruits. Each pot was filled with 8 kg of clean sand. The experiment consisted of six K application rates with 0, 1.25, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, and 20.0 mmol K L −1 in the nutrient solution. Volatile compounds, soluble sugars, soluble solids, titratable acidity, and firmness of fresh tomato fruits were measured. The results show that the concentrations of 3-methylbutanal, 1-penten-3-one, hexanal, cis-3-hexenal, 2-methyl-4-pentenal, trans-2-hexenal, 2E-4E-hexadienal, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, phenylacetaldehyde, phenylethanol, soluble sugars, and soluble solids tended to increase at first and then decrease between 0 to 10.0 mmol K L −1 . K application rate obtaining the highest values of the concentrations ranged from 1.4 to 3.0 mmol K L −1 , with the exception of cis-3-hexenal (1.1 mmol K L −1 ), phenylacetaldehyde (4.5 mmol K L −1 ), and phenylethanol (4.8 mmol K L −1 ). By contrast, increasing K supply increased the concentration of titratable acidity, decreased the ratios of soluble sugars to titratable acidity and soluble solids to titratable acidity. Close correlations were observed between the concentrations of various volatile compounds, soluble sugars, and soluble solids. Based on contributions of these compounds to tomato flavor, we assume that moderate K supply (1.4-3.0 mmol K L −1 ) improves tomato flavor, whereas tomato fruits with either no K or high K fertilization have poor flavor due to having undesirable levels of flavor compounds.

Evaluation of tomato accessions for flavour and flavour-contributing components

“…There were highly significant differences ( P < 0.01) among tomato accessions for overall flavour and flavour-contributing components except for herbaceous odour, herbaceous flavour and salty taste (Table 2). Fruit firmness is claimed to be associated with fruit flavour (Magee et al , 2003; Wang et al , 2009). For that reason, firmness was measured in this core collection and average firmness was found to be 10.9 N, ranging widely from 5.8 to 35.8 N. Extremely soft (low firmness) accessions were PI 128129, Tomate, M7281 and Tomate del Lugar, whereas those with a high level of firmness were 888, Castle Rock and Sun1643.…”

Critical Leaf Magnesium Concentrations for Adequate Photosynthate Production of Soilless Cultured Cherry Tomato—Interaction with Potassium

“…Therefore, K concentrations in soilless culture systems should be managed to supply sufficient leaf K to achieve high yield, while avoiding Mg uptake suppression due to excessive K. Moreover, the plant yield and quality are closely related to plant growth media, which could influence the nutrient supply concentrations in solution [29]. Wang et al (2009) reported that higher yields were obtained when solution K concentration was at 2.5-5 mM for cherry tomato growing in plastic pots filled with sand [56]. Hao and Papadopoulos (2003) applied 10 mM K in the nutrient solution for greenhouse tomato crop grown on rockwool [4].…”

Respon Delapan Genotipe Melon (Cucumis melo L.) terhadap Perlakuan KNO3

“…Kalium memiliki peran utama terhadap faktor nutrisi buah. Kandungan kalium yang tersedia bagi tanaman akan mempengaruhi konsentrasi total asam tertitrasi pada buah, karena tanaman juga meningkatkan produksi asam-asam organik (Wang et al, 2009). Kalium memiliki peran terhadap proses fotosintesis, akumulasi karbohidrat, dan asam organik yang mendukung pertumbuhan dan fungsi tanaman (Huang dan Snapp, 2009).…”