Influence of Wild Relative Rootstocks on Eggplant Growth, Yield and Fruit Physicochemical Properties under Open Field Conditions

Abstract

Eggplant is an essential vegetable crop that is rich in health-related compounds, and the content of these compounds can be increased through grafting. It was reported that grafting with vigorous wild relatives’ rootstocks can improve eggplant’s fruit quality. The study was conducted to investigate the fruit yield, composition and physicochemical traits of Solanum melongena ME, CE, NE and TE scions grafted on wild relatives’ rootstocks of ST, SM and SI. The results show that a notable graft success (100%) was recorded in grafted (TE/ST) and self-grafted (TE/TE) plants using the cleft technique. Growth and yield traits indicated that CE and TE scions grafted onto ST, SM and SI showed better performance in all of the traits mentioned above in an open field across two years, except first flower formation which was displayed on non-grafted CE. In all the rootstocks studied—ST, SM and SI—there was no noticeable effect on carbohydrate, fibre, ash, pH and dry matter content. There was a notable effect of grafting ME/ST, CE/ST, ME/SM, CE/SI, ME/SI, ME/SI and NE/SM on the fruit length, fruit width, total soluble solids, fruit firmness and fat and protein content, respectively. Furthermore, antioxidants such as DPPH (ME/SM), total flavonoids (NE/SM) and total phenolics (TE/SI) had remarkable content of the above-mentioned physicochemical properties. Results show that ST, SM and SI represent a viable rootstock alternative to Solanum melongena or Solanum lycopersicum production.

Grafting Compatibility, Scion Growth, and Fusarium Wilt Disease Incidence of Intraspecific Grafted Tomato

“…For example, interspecific tomato rootstocks effectively increased fruit quality, contents of bioactive compounds, and yield of the high-value 'Corbarino' tomato landrace scion (Parisi et al 2022). Plant growth, yield, and fruit physicochemical properties of eggplant scions showed better performance when grafted on the wild related rootstock of eggplant (Musa et al 2021). Zhang et al (2021) reported that tomato grafting with nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) rootstock improved nitrogen absorption and utilization and increased yield production at different nitrogen levels.…”