Rootstock Influences on Seasonal Changes in Leaf Physiology and Fruit Quality of Rio Red Grapefruit Variety

Abstract

Citrus is a conventionally produced fruit crop in extensive agricultural areas in Mediterraneantype agroecosystems. The use of rootstocks for citrus fruits is necessary for profitable production under some limiting factors, such as climactic factors, bad soil conditions, and diseases. In addition, the use of the citrus rootstocks provides a large number of choices to growers to increase fruit quality and yield, obtain early fruiting, uniform cropping and high-density planting, avoid juvenility, and control tree size. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of several citrus rootstocks on the fruit yield, quality, physiological changes in leaves and leaf mineral composition of Rio Red grapefruit. Thus, seasonal changes in the leaf chlorophyll concentration, PSII efficiency (Fv / Fm), stomatal conductance (g S ), leaf temperature, leaf mineral nutrient, fruit yield and fruit quality traits of the Rio Red grapefruit variety grafted onto six commonly used rootstocks (Carrizo citrange, citremon, sour orange, Swingle citrumelo, Troyer citrange and Volkameriana) in citriculture were evaluated. The physiological responses of fully expanded young leaves to rootstocks were significantly affected by seasonal changes. Two-way ANOVA indicated significant main effects of rootstock and season and their interaction (p ≤ 0.05) on the leaf Chl concentration. Leaf Chl concentrations were lowest in April for all rootstocks. The PSII efficiency slightly decreased in the leaves of Rio Red grafted onto Volkameriana in February. The rootstocks significantly affected seasonal changes in the leaf stomatal conductance. The highest g S was recorded in October in the leaves of a Rio Red variety grafted onto the Volkameriana rootstock. Significant rootstock effects on leaf Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn and Cu concentrations were observed in the Rio Red variety. The highest leaf Zn concentration (ppm) was recorded in plants on Volkameriana, whereas the lowest Zn concentrations were recorded in plants on Troyer citrange. There were no significant rootstock effects on leaf N, P, K and Fe concentrations. The rootstocks significantly affected the fruit yield of the Rio Red variety in the 2013 and 2014 harvest years. The highest fruit yield was observed in Rio Red grafted onto Carrizo citrange in 2013, whereas it was highest in plants on Troyer citrange in 2014. The fruit weight (g), fruit diameter (mm), total soluble solids (%), juice content (%) and juice color (hue o ) of Rio Red grapefruit were significantly affected by the rootstocks.

Substandard and Semi-Dwarfing Citrus Rootstocks for More Intensive, Higher-Density, and Sustainable Plantation Systems

“…As in other studies [11,13,37], the results revealed an effect of citrus rootstocks on yield (kg tree −1 ; Table 4). Thus, 'Lane Late' trees on MP recorded higher yields (60.93 kg tree −1 ), which were statistically significant in most growing seasons, while 'Lane Late' trees on FA13 (32.44 kg tree −1 ) and FA41 (36.85 kg tree −1 ) had almost always the lowest yield.…”

“…In sustainable plantation systems, the use of citrus rootstocks with a higher ability to uptake and translocate soil nutrients could be used as an important tool to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. Citrus rootstocks are known to have an effect on performance and plant nutrient status [9,[11][12][13]. A significant effect of the rootstocks (p < 0.05) was found in certain macro-nutrients' concentrations of 'Lane Late' leaves (Table 5).…”

“…On the other hand, in view of the high risk of Mediterranean soil desertification, more efficient citrus rootstocks in the uptake of mineral elements of the soil are required to achieve both a greater citrus crop resilience and soil recovery by more sustainable fertilization programs. In fact, the effect of rootstocks on the performance and leaf nutrient levels of different citrus cultivars is known [9][10][11][12][13], as well as of other fruit crops [14,15]. This is an important aspect to consider in citrus crops, as tree growth, yield, and health, as well as fruit quality, are closely affected by its nutrition status.…”

Determining leaf nutrient concentrations in citrus trees using UAV imagery and machine learning

“…Nutrient management is one of the most important factors in citrus production as it directly influences tree health and productivity (Galvez-Sola et al, 2015;Morgan & Graham, 2019). The plant nutrient status is influenced by the nutrient uptake efficiency of the plant, which is affected by many factors including rootstock cultivar (Uygur & Yetisir, 2009;Toplu et al, 2011;Yilmaz et al, 2018), soil type, season and plant developmental stage (Scagel et al, 2007) as well as soil-borne and other diseases such as huanglongbing (Cao et al, 2015;Morgan & Graham, 2019). To determine the nutrient status of a plant and correct potential deficiencies, regular analysis of leaf nutrient concentrations is essential (Galvez-Sola et al, 2015;Stammer & Mallarino, 2018).…”

Effect of Rootstock on the Fruit Quality of Mandarins "Clemenules" and "Tango", and Blood Oranges "Tarocco Rosso" and "Moro"

“…Conversely, an increase in leaf K content increases rind thickness and coarseness (Chapman, 1968). Although it is known that rootstock influences nutrient uptake (Legua et al, 2013;Zambrosi, Mesquita, Tanaka, Quaggio & Mattos, 2013;Yilmaz, Cimen, Incesu, Uysal Kamiloglu & Yesiloglu, 2018), very few studies report the influence of rootstock on peel thickness and its nutritional composition. In 'Nova' mandarin, this correlation was observed in the fruit from rootstock Troyer citrange with the thinnest peel, where tree leaves had the largest amounts of P and the least amounts of K (Georgiou, 2000).…”