Reflective mulch increases fruit yield of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. cv. Darrow) grown in a northern maritime environment while maintaining key fruit quality traits
| Autor: | Susan McCallum, Robert D. Hancock, Iain W Archibald, Antonios Petridis, Julie Graham, Jeroen van der Kaay |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Canopy
030309 nutrition & dietetics Climate Blueberry Plants Biology Photosynthesis Antioxidants Anthocyanins 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound 0404 agricultural biotechnology Yield (wine) 0303 health sciences Brix Nutrition and Dietetics food and beverages 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences biology.organism_classification 040401 food science Antioxidant capacity Horticulture chemistry Anthocyanin Fruit Seasons Sugars Agronomy and Crop Science Mulch Food Science Biotechnology Vaccinium |
| Zdroj: | Journal of the science of food and agricultureREFERENCES. 101(8) |
| ISSN: | 1097-0010 |
| Popis: | Background In maritime growing environments, blueberry yield often exhibits excessive season-to-season variation, associated with poorly adapted photosynthetic responses to low light conditions. It is therefore necessary to develop methods that stabilise yield while maintaining or improving fruit quality. Here, we placed reflective mulch alongside plants at the early green fruit stage, to test the hypothesis that increasing the available seasonal light integral could enhance blueberry yield. We further determined several quality characteristics to ensure fruit marketability. Results Placement of mulch alongside plants reflected up to five times more light compared with bare ground, enhancing the amount of light reaching the canopy. This led to an adaptive increase of light saturated maximal photosynthetic rate of mulch-treated plants, resulting in a twofold increase in yield compared with control plants. Analysis of fruit quality characteristics showed that total soluble solids, sugars and organic acids were similar between treatments. Likewise, antioxidant capacity, total anthocyanin content and the content of individual anthocyanins did not change in response to reflective mulch treatment. Conclusions The use of reflective mulch should be explored by industry as a cost-effective method for enhancing blueberry yield while maintaining fruit quality in maritime environments. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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