The Effect of Potassium Biofortification Over Yield and Nutritional Quality of Cherry Tomato Fruits

Abstract

Aims: To assess the effect of a biofortification programme with different doses of K as KCl form during the crop cycle cherry tomato plant over production and fruit quality.Methods: Cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. AsHiari grafted on cv. Maxifort rootstock) were grown in an experimental greenhouse at La Nacla Experimental Station (Granada, Motril) The different treatments applied were: 5, 10, 15 and 20 mM KCl during the crop cycle. Cherry tomato fruits were sampled at 20, 24 and 29 weeks after transplant.Results: i) 20 WAT: showed a higher K concentration, especially with treatments 15 and 20 mM KCl, antioxidant capacity parameters were improved with these doses although they did not significantly increase the organoleptic qualities. β-carotene increased proportionally to the application of growing K doses applied. ii) 24 and 29 WAT: The proposed biofortification program improved the antioxidant capacity of tomato fruit with increasing doses of KCl expecially at 24 WAT, although they had lower K content than those collected in the 20 WAT. Despite not show significant differences between treatments, the organoleptic qualities were improved in these samplings.Conclusion: At 20 WAT, with the treatments 15 and 20 mM KCl, K concentration in tomato fruits increases and does not endangers production. Overall, for the different samplings studied, these doses are those that improve the parameters that determine the quality of tomato fruits. The consumption of these tomato fruits could be of great nutritional value and would be a health benefit.

Assessment of Carbon Metabolism of Cherry Tomato Fruits: How Does Affects Potassium Biofortification During Crop Cycle at Postharvest Storage?

“…Subsequently, the seedlings were transplanted to an experimental greenhouse at La Nacla Experimental Station (Motril), near the Granada coast in southern Spain (36º 45'N; 3º 30'W; altitude 130 m). The "parral" greenhouse consisted of three modules having a symmetrical gable roof with a slope of 27º and having an E-W longitudinal orientation (Soriano and al, 2004;Constán-Aguilar and al, 2015). The active environmental control was limited to a heating system by hot-air generators, and a natural ventilation system through wall and roof windows.…”

“…The statistical design was on randomized block. Other growing conditions such as irrigation and fertilization followed (Soriano and al, 2004;Constán-Aguilar and al, 2015). The different treatments applied were: 5 mM KCl, 10 mM KCl y 15 mM KCl as liquid solution from the beginning to the end of the experiment.…”

Sindy cherry tomato: A low potassium (K) demanding, high-quality and highly productive cultivar

“…-1 of K. The cultivars of cherry tomato AsHiari grafted on cv. Maxifort rootstock also showed that the fertilization with different doses of K did not affect the number of fruits per plant but promoted the increase in K concentration and decreased the fresh weight of commercial fruit production (Constán-Aguilar et al, 2015).Some authors stated that, although tomatoes' demand for K been high, responses to the application of this nutrient to the soil are not frequent (Boaretto et al, 1983;Takahashi, 1993). However, in hydroponics, positive effects would be expected, since in this system the establishment of adequate concentrations of nutrients and their wide availability are closely related to the satisfactory growth and development of plants (Taiz and Zeiger, 2013).…”

Estimating genotype-environment interactions for internal fruit quality traits in cherry tomatoes

“…the transport of photoassimilates to fruits, which improves their production and nutritional quality (Constán-Aguilar et al, 2015). K fertilization has a positive effect on crop yield in general (Zörb et al, 2014), and some studies have shown a positive effect on tomato yield (Amjad et al, 2014).…”

“…Diverse studies have also shown an effect of K fertilization on the concentration of certain plant antioxidants, such as carotenoids (Kaur et al, 2018;Tavallali et al, 2018), tocopherols (Caretto et al, 2008), phenolic compounds (Tavallali et al, 2018), and ascorbic acid (Kaur et al, 2018). Some studies have demonstrated increasing levels of antioxidants when K fertilization is increased (Constán-Aguilar et al, 2015;Tavallali et al, 2018), while others have shown no effect or even a decrease in antioxidant levels (Fanasca et al, 2006;Taber et al, 2008). These diverse results might be due to varying cultivation environments, for example, a greenhouse (Constán-Aguilar et al, 2015) or open field (Taber et al, 2008), along with alternating abiotic factors or different cultivars.…”