Articles
Preharvest drought stress: which consequences on plant physiology and fruit quality in sour cherry?
Article number
1409_57
Pages
453 – 458
Language
English
Abstract
Climate change is deeply affecting plant phenology and crop water requirements.
Rising temperatures, water scarcity and drought are just some of the current challenges that agriculture has to face.
An accurate irrigation scheduling may represent a strategic tool to achieve water savings while maintaining, at the same time, high fruit quality yields.
This work assessed the effects induced by two different irrigation treatments applied on sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) trees during the 2022 fruit growing season.
Starting from 54 days after full bloom (DAFB), “stressed” (STR) trees did not receive irrigation until harvest, while control (CNT) trees were irrigated on the basis of crop evapotranspiration.
Throughout the trial, physiological functions and vegetative development were monitored as well as the main fruit quality parameters at harvest.
Data showed how the daily trend of stem and leaf water potentials were not different between treatments during the growing season.
STR trees reported the same photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance and leaf transpiration values as CNT trees.
Shoot and fruit growth were not affected by the lack of irrigation on STR trees; in fact, fruit diameters and growth rates were similar between the two treatments, as well as fruit diameters, soluble solids content and flesh firmness at harvest.
Measurements showed how reducing irrigation did not influence the plants’ physiological parameters monitored, although some precipitation in the first phases of irrigation withholding might have influenced the results.
Additional studies are foreseen to better understand the plant responses to water stress in terms of yield and final fruit quality.
Rising temperatures, water scarcity and drought are just some of the current challenges that agriculture has to face.
An accurate irrigation scheduling may represent a strategic tool to achieve water savings while maintaining, at the same time, high fruit quality yields.
This work assessed the effects induced by two different irrigation treatments applied on sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) trees during the 2022 fruit growing season.
Starting from 54 days after full bloom (DAFB), “stressed” (STR) trees did not receive irrigation until harvest, while control (CNT) trees were irrigated on the basis of crop evapotranspiration.
Throughout the trial, physiological functions and vegetative development were monitored as well as the main fruit quality parameters at harvest.
Data showed how the daily trend of stem and leaf water potentials were not different between treatments during the growing season.
STR trees reported the same photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance and leaf transpiration values as CNT trees.
Shoot and fruit growth were not affected by the lack of irrigation on STR trees; in fact, fruit diameters and growth rates were similar between the two treatments, as well as fruit diameters, soluble solids content and flesh firmness at harvest.
Measurements showed how reducing irrigation did not influence the plants’ physiological parameters monitored, although some precipitation in the first phases of irrigation withholding might have influenced the results.
Additional studies are foreseen to better understand the plant responses to water stress in terms of yield and final fruit quality.
Authors
M. Venturi, A. Giovannini, M. Morri, B. Morandi
Keywords
fruit quality, leaf gas exchanges, Prunus cerasus, water relations
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