EFFECT OF BLACK SYNTHETIC MULCHES ON THE FRUIT QUALITY AND SELECTED COMPONENTS OF NUTRITIVE VALUE OF MELON

Abstract

The use of synthetic materials for mulching is a very common practice for vegetable crops. Soil mulching influences the microclimate around plants and soil environmental conditions. Mulching with black materials is particularly recommended for thermophilic species, especially those requiring high soil temperature. An experimet was established to evaluate an effect of soil mulching with synthetic materials (black polyethylene film, black polypropylene nonwoven 50 g·m, black fabric 94 g·m^-2) on the fruit quality and nutritive value of two melon cultivars (‘Seledyn’, ‘Yupi’) cultivated in the field under the climatic conditions of central-eastern Poland. The greatest numbers of fruit per 1 m² and marketable fruit were harvested in the year 2007 which was most favourable for melon growing compared with the remaining study years. The number of the fruits which were either unripe or showed symptoms of decay did not differ significantly in individual study years. ‘Yupi’ was characterised by a significantly higher total number of fruit and number of marketable fruit than ‘Seledyn’. ‘Yupi’ fruits were less affected by decay than ‘Seledyn’ which, however, produced significant less unripe fruit. ‘Yupi’ fruits had significantly more dry matter, total sugars, monosaccharides and vitamin C as compared to ‘Seledyn’. In both the cultivars examined, higher nutrient contents were determined in the fruit grown using black film mulching.