Optimizing N Fertilization to Improve Yield, Technological and Nutritional Quality of Tomato Grown in High Fertility Soil Conditions
1
Department of Life Science, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Amendola, n. 2, 42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy
2
CRPA Centro Ricerche Produzioni Animali, viale Timavo 43/2, 42121 Reggio Emilia, Italy
3
CREA Research Centre for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Via Cavalleggeri, 25, 84098 Pontecagnano Faiano, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2020, 9(5), 575; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9050575
Received: 11 April 2020
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Revised: 26 April 2020
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Accepted: 26 April 2020
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Published: 1 May 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Factors Affecting Yield, Quality, Antioxidants, Mineral Composition and Residual Biomass Valorization of Vegetable Crops)
Processing tomato is the second most important worldwide cash crop, generally produced in high-input systems. However, fruit yield and quality are affected by agronomic management, particularly nitrogen (N) fertilization, whose application to indeterminate growth genotypes for canning has yet to be investigated in depth. Hence, the objective of this work was to assess the effects of different N rates (0, 50, 125, 200, 275, and 350 kg ha−1) on fruit yield and quality characteristics of processing tomato ‘San Marzano’ landrace. The results of our study showed that 125 and 200 kg of N ha−1 are the most appropriate rates in soil with high fertility, ensuring the highest values of marketable yield and brix yield. However, plants fertilized with 125 kg of N ha−1 attained higher values of N efficiency and fruit K and P concentrations than plants fertilized with 200 kg of N ha−1. Our results suggest that overdoses of N supplies negatively affected fruit yield and quality of San Marzano landrace grown in high soil fertility conditions, also reducing the agricultural sustainability. Hence, specific agronomic protocol and extension services are required to optimally manage tomato crop systems.
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Keywords:
Solanum lycopersicum L.; sustainability; harvest index; N-efficiency; Brix; nitrate; mineral composition
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MDPI and ACS Style
Ronga, D.; Pentangelo, A.; Parisi, M. Optimizing N Fertilization to Improve Yield, Technological and Nutritional Quality of Tomato Grown in High Fertility Soil Conditions. Plants 2020, 9, 575. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9050575
AMA Style
Ronga D, Pentangelo A, Parisi M. Optimizing N Fertilization to Improve Yield, Technological and Nutritional Quality of Tomato Grown in High Fertility Soil Conditions. Plants. 2020; 9(5):575. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9050575
Chicago/Turabian StyleRonga, Domenico, Alfonso Pentangelo, and Mario Parisi. 2020. "Optimizing N Fertilization to Improve Yield, Technological and Nutritional Quality of Tomato Grown in High Fertility Soil Conditions" Plants 9, no. 5: 575. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9050575
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