Different K:Ca ratios affected fruit color and quality of strawberry 'Selva' in soilless system

High quality fruit production is the cornerstone of marketability. Optimum plant performance depends on the balanced and timely availability of mineral nutrients. In addition to element concentrations, the ratio of nutrient elements in solution plays a determinative role in growth, productivity, qua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of plant nutrition Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 243 - 252
Main Authors Haghshenas, Masoud, Arshad, Mousa, Nazarideljou, Mohammad Javad
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Taylor & Francis 01.01.2018
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Acidity
Ascorbic acid
Berries
Calcium
Color
Crop production
Electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity
Ellagic acid
Firmness
Fruits
Leaf area
Leaves
Marketability
Nutrient concentrations
Nutrients
Perlite
pH effects
Potassium
potassium/calcium ratio
Quality
Quality management
soilless culture
total carbohydrate
TSS/TA
Vitamin C
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Summary:High quality fruit production is the cornerstone of marketability. Optimum plant performance depends on the balanced and timely availability of mineral nutrients. In addition to element concentrations, the ratio of nutrient elements in solution plays a determinative role in growth, productivity, quality, and nutrients uptake. In this experiment, the effects of different Potassium:Calcium (K:Ca) ratios (1.6, 1.4, 1.2, 1, 0.85, and 0.6) in nutrient solution were studied on quality attributes of strawberry 'Selva'. The highest and lowest leaf number and leaf area were observed in K:Ca 1.4 and 1, respectively. The highest fruit pH, electrical conductivity, total soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio, vitamin C content, ellagic acid, and color were resulted in K:Ca (1.4) ratio. K:Ca (1.6) ratio produced the highest content of protein. Moreover, K:Ca (0.85) ratio was the most effective treatment on fruit firmness. The increased quality attributes were observed in high K:Ca ratios, hence low K:Ca ratio resulted in increased fruit firmness. In conclusion, nutrient solution containing K:Ca ratios between 1 and 1.6 were suitable for producing strawberry 'Selva'. Taken together, K:Ca (1.4) was an appropriate ratio for producing strawberry 'Selva' in soilless culture with coconut fiber: perlite medium.
ISSN:0190-4167
1532-4087
DOI:10.1080/01904167.2017.1385797