Production and Quality of West Indian Cherry (Malpighia emarginata D. C.) under Salt Stress and NPK Combinations

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of fertilization combinations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) on the production and quality of West Indian cherry grown under salt stress in the second year of production. The study was conducted in a protected environment following a randomized block design with treatments distributed in a 2 × 10 factorial arrangement referring to two levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (0.6 and 4.0 dS m−1) and 10 NPK fertilization combinations (80-100-100; 100-100-100; 120-100-100; 140-100-100; 100-80-100; 100-120-100; 100-140-100; 100-100-80; 100-100-120 and 100-100-140% of the recommendation in the second year of production), with three replicates and one plant per lysimeter. Production and post-harvest variables evaluated were: the total fruit weight, total number of fruits, mean fruit weight, the polar and equatorial diameter, total soluble solids, pulp pH, titratable acidity, maturity ratio, vitamin C, reducing sugars, total phenolic compounds, total anthocyanins, and flavonoids. The results indicate that irrigation with water having a salinity of 4.0 dS m−1 negatively affected all production variables. The interaction between the ECw of 0.6 dS m−1 and the 100-80-120 NPK fertilization combination increased the total number of fruits and the total fruit weight of West Indian cherry.