Ozone and microbial biostimulants increase the bioactive content of pepper fruit

Preharvest application of ozonated water is considered a useful strategy for optimizing the sanitary status of crops, but little information about its effect on fruit yield and quality is available.
This study assesses the effect of ozonated water and microbial biostimulants on pepper yield and fruit composition.
Under greenhouse conditions, plants were drip-irrigated with a nutrient solution using non-ozonated water (IW) or mixing with 20% ozonated water (IO₃) at a concentration of 180 ppb O₃. The two irrigation strategies were combined with foliar applications of ozonated water by spraying (FO₃) or using a mix of microbial biostimulants (B) based on N-fixing and K and P-solubilizing bacteria (Bactogren^®) plus arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Agromic^®). Control treatments (C) without FO₃ or B application were included in both the IW and IO₃ strategies, giving rise to six treatments (IW+C, IW+B, IW+FO₃, IO₃+C, IO₃+B and IO₃+FO₃). Treatment with B and FO₃ did not affect fruit yield with either irrigation strategy.
In green fruits, B and FO₃ treatments significantly increased vitamin C concentrations with both irrigation strategies.
In addition, B treatment increased the chlorophyll content when plants were irrigated with ozonated water, while in red fruits the B treatment increased the carotenoid concentration regardless of the irrigation strategy followed.
These results show the potential of ozonated water and the use of microbial biostimulants to improve the bioactive content of pepper fruit.

VIII International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables – FAVHEALTH 2021

V. Hernández, P. Hellín, E. Molina, J.E. Marques-Galvez, I. Garrido, M.V. Molina, J. Cava, J. Fenoll, P. Flores

sustainability, antioxidant, pepper, symbiosis, fruit quality

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1329.16