Abstract

BARRAZA-ALVAREZ, FERNANDO VICENTE. Morphological and physiological quality of cucumbers grown in different nutritional concentrations. rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2015, vol.9, n.1, pp.60-71. ISSN 2011-2173.  https://doi.org/10.17584/rcch.2015v9i1.3746.

The quality characteristics of cucumber fruits are related to mineral nutrition. Postharvest handling affects the final quality. Therefore, research was conducted by the Universidad AutónomaChapingo (México) in order to determine which of the concentrations of Steiner's universal nutrient solution, which is most used by farmers, has the best effect on the main characteristics of quality in cucumber fruits cultivated in a greenhouse. The following variables were evaluated: length, equatorial diameter, firmness, Brix degrees, total titratable acidity (TTA), whole chlorophyll content, brightness and color. A randomized block design was used with four treatments: 25%, 75%, 125% and 175% of Steiner's universal nutrient solution. According to the obtained results, the length and equatorial diameter of the fruits reached higher values with a 175% concentration, with significant statistical differences with respect to the other concentrations. This treatment also exceeded the others in firmness, whole chlorophyll content, brightness and color. With the 25% concentration, the first fruit harvest was not obtained (49 days after the transplant) and there were very low TTA values (1,68%). There were no differences between the treatments for the Brix degrees.

Keywords : Color; firmness; titratable acidity; a and b chlorophylls; postharvest.

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