Abstract

CASIERRA-POSADA, Fánor  and  GARCIA RIANO, Nehidy. YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF SALT-STRESSED STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS (Fragaria sp.). Rev. Fac. Nac. Agron. Medellín [online]. 2006, vol.59, n.2, pp.3527-3542. ISSN 0304-2847.

Since water is a very good solvent, all irrigation waters contain some dissolved salts. Salinity restricts the availability of water to plants by lowering the total water potential in the soil. Salinity also has an impact on crop physiology and yield. Visible injury can occur at high salinity levels. This trial was carried out to investigate the relationship between NaCl-salt stress, fruit quality and yield on the strawberries cultivars 'Sweet Carlie' 'Chandler' and 'Camarosa' grown in pots filled with salinized soil in glasshouse. Five salt levels were compared (0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 mM NaCl) which induced different electrical conductivity (EC) levels (2,68; 6,08; 8,24; 9,98 y 12,62 dS.m^-1 respectly). The different EC levels were obtained by adding NaCl progressively to the soil. Fruit yield and quality were negatively influenced by the tested treatments. Sugar content in fruits was influenced by the treatments. Total soluble solids and tritrable acidity in fruits grew as EC levels grew. While the accumulation of dry matter in the roots showed a proportional increase with the level of NaCl in the substrate, the fruits showed an opposite tendency. Although typical stress symptoms such as growth retardation and poor fruit yield were observed in the strawberry tested cultivars, 'Sweet Charlie' was less sensitive to the salinity.

Keywords : Total soluble solids; tritrable acid; dry matter partitioning; fruit diameter.

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