Abstract
Tomato is well known regarding its quality and nutritional value in all over the world but imbalances of fertilizer nutrients severely affect the quality of tomato. To investigate the specific contribution of potassium to yield and quality of tomato, a field experiment was conducted on two tomato cultivars, Nagina and Roma. Foliar application with varying levels (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1.0%) of potassium solutions was applied to the plants and compared with control (without K). Exogenous application of 0.6% K significantly improved plant height, lycopene content, potassium, fruit weight and diameter. Exogenous application of 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7% K maximally improved ascorbic acid contents of both tomato cultivars whereas 0.4 and 0.8% did not improve ascorbic acid contents. Due to positive correlation between K nutrition and fruit quality attributes, exogenous application of an appropriate K level can contribute to higher yield and better quality of tomato fruits. Among all potassium levels, 0.5–0.7% K maximally improved performance of tomato plants of both cultivars.
References
Adams, P., Ho, L.C. (1995). Uptake and distribution of nutrients in relation to tomato fruit quality. Acta Hort., 412, 374–387.
Afzal, I., Munir, F., Ayub, C.M., Basra, S.M.A., Hameed, A., Shah, F. (2013). Ethanol priming: an effective approach to enhance germination and seedling development by improving antioxidant system in tomato seeds. Acta Sci. Pol., Hortorum Cultus, 12, 129–137.
Anac, D., Eryuce, N., Kilinc, R. (1994). Effect of N, P, K fertilizer levels on yield and quality properties of processing tomatoes in Turkey. Acta Hort., 376, 243–250.
Bidari, B.I., Hebsur, N.S. (2011). Potassium in relation to yield and quality of selected vegetable crops. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 24(1), 55–59.
Borkowski, J., Szwonek, E. (1986). Effect of potassium and magnesium on the quality of tomato fruits. Acta Hort., 191, 133–140.
Chapagain, B.P., Wiesman, Z. (2004). Effect of Nutri-Vant-PeaK foliar spray on plant development, yield, and fruit quality in greenhouse tomatoes. Sci. Hortic., 102, 177–188.
Davis, A.R., Fish, W.W., Perkins-Veazie, P. (2003). A rapid spectrophotometric method for analyzing lycopenc content in tomato and tomato products. Postharv. Biol. Technol., 28, 425–430.
Demiral, M.A., Koseoglu, T. (2005). Effect of potassium on yield, fruit quality and chemical composition of greenhouse-grown galia melon. J. Plant Nutr., 28, 93–100.
Giovannucci, E. (2002). A review of epidemiologic studies of tomatoes, lycopene, and prostate cancer. Exp. Biol. Med., 227, 852–859.
Hariprakasha, R.M., Subramanian, T.R. (1991). Effect of potassium application on the yield and content of K, Ca and Mg in cabbage, okra, tomato and beetroot. J. Potash Res., 7(3), 190–197.
Hartz, T.K., Miyao, G., Mullen, R.J., Cahn, M.D., Valencia, J., Brittan, K.L. (1999). Potassium requirements for maximum yield and fruit quality of processing tomato. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 124, 199–204
Jifon, J.L., Lester, G.E. (2009). Foliar potassium fertilization improves fruit quality of fieldgrown muskmelon on calcareous soils in south Texas. J. Sci. Food Agric., 89, 2452–2460.
Kanai, S., Ohkura, K., Adu-Gyamfi, J.J., Mohapatra, P.K., Nguyen, N.T., Saneoka, H., Fujita, K. (2007). Depression of sink activity precedes the inhibition of biomass production in tomato plants subjected to potassium deficiency stress. J. Exp. Bot., 58, 2917–2928.
Kowalska, I. (2003). Nutrient and water uptake in different stages of maturity of greenhouse tomato grown on NFT at different sulphate levels in nutrient solution. Acta Sci. Pol., Hortorum Cultus, 2(2), 43–50.
Lester, G.E., Jifon, J.L., Rogers, G. (2005). Supplemental foliar potassium applications during muskmelon fruit development can improve fruit quality, ascorbic acid, and beta-carotene contents. J Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 130, 649–653.
Lester, G.E., Jifon, J.L., Stewart, W.M. (2007). Foliar potassium improves cantaloupe marketable and nutritional quality. Better Crops., 91(1), 24–25.
Majumdar, S.P., Meena, R.L., Baghel, G.D.S. (2000). Effect of levels of compaction and potassium on yield and quality of tomato and chilli crops grown on highly permeable soils. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 48(2), 215–220.
Marschner, H. (1995). Functions of mineral nutrients: macronutirents. In: Mineral nutrition of higher plants 2nd edition, Marschner, H. (ed.). Academic Press, N.Y., 299–312.
Nanadal, J.K., Ramesh, V., Pandey, U.P. (1998). Effect of phosphorus and potassium on growth, yield and quality of tomato. J. Potas Res., 15(1–4), 44–49.
Oded, A., Uzi, K. (2003). Enhanced performance of processing tomatoes by potassium nitrate based nutrition. Acta Hort., 613, 81–87.
Perkins-Veazie, P., Roberts, W. (2003). Can potassium application affect the mineral and antioxidant content of horticultural crops? Amer. Soc. Agron., Proc. Symposium on Fertilizing Crops for Functional Foods, 2/1–2/6.
Robertson, G.H., Mahoney, N.E., Goodman, N., Pavlath, A.E. (1995). Regulation of lycopene formation in cell suspension culture of VFNT tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) by CPTA, growth regulators, sucrose, and temperature. J. Expt. Bot., 46, 667–673.
Ruck, J.A. (1961). Chemical method for fruit and vegetable products. Res. Sta. Summerland; Res. Branch, Canada. Dept. of Agri. No. 1154.
Taber, H., Perkins-Veazie, P., Li, S., White, W., Rodermel, S., Xu, Y. (2008). Enhancement of tomato fruit Lycopene by potassium is cultivar dependent. Hort Sci., 43, 159–165.
Zhao, D., Oosterhuis, D.M., Bednarz, C.W. (2001). Influence of potassium deficiency on photosynthesis, chlorophyll content, and chloroplast ultra-structure of cotton plants. Photosynthetica, 39, 103–109.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
