effect of foliar spraying of some antioxidants and ...curresweb.com/mejas/mejas/2017/713-725.pdf ·...

Middle East Journal of Applied Sciences ISSN 2077-4613

Volume : 07 | Issue :04 |Oct.-Dec.| 2017 Pages: 713-725

Corresponding Author: Abd-El-Rhman I. E., Plant Production Department. Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.

713

Effect of Foliar Spraying of Some Antioxidants and Micronutrients on Yield, Fruit Quality and Leaf Mineral Content of Manfaloty Pomegranate Trees (Punica Granatum L.) Grown in a Calcareous Soil

1Abd-El-Rhman I. E., 2M. F. Attia, 3Eman S. El-Hady and 3Laila, F. Haggag 1Plant Production Department and 2Soil fertility & Microbiology Department, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt. 3Pomology Department, National Research Center (NRC), Giza, Egypt.

Received: 27 July 2017 / Accepted: 28 Sept. 2017 / Publication date: 19 Oct. 2017

ABSTRACT A field experiment was carried out during the two successive seasons of 2015 and 2016 on ten

years old Manfalouty pomegranate trees, the trees were spaced at 3.5 x 3.5 m and grown in a calcareous sand soil. The foliar spraying treatments were as follows: T1; Control (untreated trees), T2; Zn as ZnSO4 at 10gL-1, T3; B as H3BO3 at 5gL-1, T4; Citric acid at 2000ppm,T5; Ascorbic acid at 2000ppm,T6; T2+ T4, .T7; T2+T5, T8; T3+T4 and T9; T3+T5. All treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and three trees each replicate. Each treatment was sprayed three times; at the first week of Marsh (growth start setting), May and June; the control trees were sprayed with only water. All studied yield parameter i.e. fruit number /tree, fruit yield (kg)/tree and fruit yield (MT)/ha as well all studied fruit physical and chemical properties and leaves nutrient contents were where improved only when Manfaloty pomegranate trees treated with Zn or B in combination with citric or ascorbic acid in both seasons. The highest values of the different investigated parameters were obtained when ZnSO4 (10gL-1) were applied in combination with any of antioxidant i.e. T6 and T7 treatments in both seasons. The lowest percentages of fruit creaking, acidity and fruit peel were also obtained by T6 and T7 treatments. Therefore, these treatments i.e. T6 an T7 could be recommended for improving Manfaloty pomegranate trees performance under similar conditions of this study. Key words: Pomegranate trees, Foliar spraying, Antioxidants, Calcareous soil.

Introduction

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the oldest known edible fruits, among the fruit kinds mentioned in the Holy Quran and an important in human medicine and its components have a wide range of clinical applications (Lansky & Newman, 2007). Manfaluty pomegranate is the most important cultivar in Egypt. The pomegranate is native to Iran and grown extensively in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide (Hepaksoy et al., 2009).

Antioxidants such as Ascorbic acid, citric acid have auxinic action and also synergistic effect on flowering and fruiting of fruit trees of most fruit trees, recently antioxidants used instead of auxins and other chemicals for enhancing growth and fruiting of various fruit trees (Ragab, 2002). In addition, the positive action of antioxidants in catching or chelating the free radicals which could result in extending the shelf life of plant cells and stimulating growth aspects is reported (Rao et al., 2000). Ascorbic acid is considered as natural and organic antioxidant compound (Hafez et al., 2010), as well it is considered as an essential compound for plant tissues since it has antioxidant functions, and acts as co-enzyme in an enzymatic cofactor and plant growth regulator (Gomez, and Lajolo, 2008). It has synergistic effect on improving growth, flowering, yield and fruit quality of fruit crops (Barth et al., 1997 and Ahmed et al., 2006). Samra et al. (2012) showed that spray 500 ppm of ascorbic acid, salicylic acid and chelated zinc at after fruit set and the one month later were beneficial to obtain economic yield with quality of Balady mandarin fruits. On the other hand, Mansour et al. (2010) recorded that application of Ascorbic at 0.1% or Citrine at 0.3% three times started from the first week of March with one month intervals, considered a promising treatment for improving yield and fruit quality of Zebda, Awase, Alphonso and Taimour mango cultivars. Many studies showed that using antioxidants was very effective in promoting yield and fruit quality in various grapevine

Middle East J. Appl. Sci., 7(4): 713-725, 2017 ISSN 2077-4613

714

varieties (Ahmed et al., 2010; El-Hanafy, 2011; Bondok- Sawsan et al., (2011); Ahmed et al., 2011; Mekawy, 2012; Mohamed, 2014; Abdelaal and Aly, 2013 and Abada, 2014) and Moawad et al. (2015) on Superior grapevines.

Curing micronutrient deficiencies through foliar application is a common practice in getting profitable yield and good quality fruit (Waheed, 1992). Foliar spray of micronutrients is advantageous over soil application, because of rapid response, effectiveness and elimination of deficiency symptoms due to certain micronutrients.

Zinc availability to plants is reduced in high pH soils such as calcareous soils. Regarding the causes of Zn deficiency in calcareous soils there are two main theories are offered for these reasons. The first theory involves the solubility of Zn in these soils to be decreased up to 100 fold per unit increase in pH, and the second one which is based on the adsorption of this element by calcium carbonate (CaCO3); the carbonate found in such soils forms an insoluble complex with Zn added as zinc sulfate (Rasouli-Sadeghiani et al., 2002). Zinc plays many important regulatory roles in plant development. It activates many enzymes involved in plant metabolism and enhances the biosynthesis of some organic foods and IAA as well as stimulates cell division, cell enlargement, water absorption and nutrient transport. It is also important for strengthening cell wall and reducing the formation of the abscission zone (Yagodin, 1990). Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element for plants, being involved in many enzymatic reactions and is necessary for their good growth and development. Zinc is also involved in regulating the protein and carbohydrate metabolism (Swietlik, 1999). Zinc is a component of almost 60 enzymes; it has a role in producing the growth hormone IAA. Zinc plays a key role in N metabolism of plant and Zn deficient plants have reduced protein content (Hassan et al., 2010). The application of zinc improves the citrus fruit yield and its juice quality (Ashraf et al., 2014). Foliar application of zinc had positive impact on fruit yield and quality of Kinnow mandarin, sweet orange and grapes (Razzaq et al., 2013).

Boron plays an important role in the extension of plant cell walls through its association with cell wall pectins (Kaneko et al, 1997). It is known also that the role of boron in plant metabolism including many physiological aspects such as nucleic acid metabolism, protein, natural hormone biosynthesis, building and translocation of carbohydrates, photosynthesis, cell division, cell wall synthesis membrane function and water uptake (Mengel et al., 2001).Boron is helpful in plant growth and productivity. It increases the germination of pollen grains and elongation of pollen tube, fruit setting and yield in orchards (El-Sheikh, 2007). Boron is responsible for activation of dehydrogenase enzymes, sugar translocation, nucleic acids and plant hormones (Bradyand Weil, 1996). Boron is responsible for activation of dehydrogenase enzymes, sugar translocation, nucleic acids and plant hormones (El-Sheikh et al., 2007). Application of B increases fruit set and yields by its role in pollen tube germination and elongation (Abd-Allah, 2006).

Several investigators studied the effect of zinc and/or boron on fruit set, productivity and fruit quality in many plant species. Ramezani and Shekafandeh (2009) reported that zinc sulphate had positive effects on fruit characteristics in terms of fruit weight and fruit dimensions of ‘Shengeh’ olive cultivar. Talaie et al. (2001) showed that foliar spray of B and Zn decreased fruit drop and increased fruit quality in the ‘Zard’ olive. Hassan (2000) found that boric acid treatments increased pollen germination than control and increased percentage of retained fruits in ‘Picual’ olive. Abd El-Migeed et al. (2002) on ‘picual’ olive reported that boric acid spray at 300 mgl-1 increased fruit length. Osman (1999) on olive found that boron treatments either as foliar or soil applications increased percentage of retained fruits. Khayyat et al. (2007) reported that boric acid at 1500 mgl-1 on ‘Shahany’ date palm increased pulp weight, pulp/seed ratio; fruit length and diameter.

Therefore, this study was carried out to study the effect of foliar spraying of some antioxidants and micronutrients on improving yield, fruit quality and leaf mineral content of Manfaloty pomegranate trees (Punica granatum L.) hhich suffers a shortage of nutrients deficiency being it is grown on calcareous soils. Materials and Methods

This study was carried out during the two successive seasons of 2015 and 2016 on ten years old

Manfalouty pomegranate trees, the trees were spaced at 3.5×3.5 m and grown in a calcareous sand


715

soil. The different physical and chemical properties of the experiment soil and irrigation water are presented in Table1.

The foliar spraying treatments were as follows: T1; Control (untreated trees), T2; ZnSO4 at 10gL-

1, T3; H3BO3 at 5gL-1, T4; Citric acid at 2000ppm,T5; Ascorbic acid at 2000ppm,T6; T2+ T4, .T7; T2+T5, T8; T3+T4 and T9; T3+T5. All treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and three trees each replicate. Each treatment was sprayed three times; at the first week of Marsh (growth start setting), May and June; the control trees were sprayed with only water. All agricultural practices that are recommended were carried out in their times and doses.

At the harvest time the number of fruits per tree in each treatment was counted and the percentage of cracked fruits was recorded, also the fruit yield (kg) per tree was calculated. Ten normal fruits was taken from each tree in all treatments for physical and chemical determination .The juice was extracted and the total soluble solids were determined by hand refractometer. Total sugars (%) and total acidity in fruit juice (expressed as a citric acid / 100ml juice and percentages of N, P, K , Ca and Mg in the leaves according to A.O.A.C(2000). Table 1: Some of physical and chemical soil properties of the experiment soil.

Soil paste extract OM CaCO3 CEC Particle size distributes% Texture Depth in cm pH ECdSm-1 gkg-1 cmolc kg-1 Sand Silt Clay 0 – 30 7.94 1.75 2.6 158.8 16.03 62.86 21.46 15.69 S.L 30 -60 8.24 1.84 2.0 169.9 17.40 60.26 21.20 18.55 S.L

Soluble cations and anions in soil (mmolc L-1) and Total antioxidants and phenol acids in

soil Na+ K+ Ca+2 Mg+2 HCO3

- Cl- SO4-2

0 – 30 6.70 0.45 5.80 4.55 0.65 11.75 5.10 30 -60 7.28 0.49 5.85 4.90 0.68 12.25 5.59 Available nutrients in soil (mg kg-1) N P K Fe Mn Zn B Cu 0 – 30 45.40 1.79 147.50 12.65 8.63 5.69 5.19 0.77 30 -60 21.25 1.46 170.00 15.10 10.18 7.05 5.68 0.92

Statistical analysis was carried out according to Snedecorand Cochran (1980). Treatment means were compared according to Duncan,s b(1955) multiple range test at 0.5 level of probability.

Results:

Yield, fruit quality and leaf mineral content of Manfaloty pomegranate trees (Punica granatum L.) were studied by using nine different treatments of foliar spraying i.e. No spaying; control (T1), 10gL-1 ZnSO4 (T2), 5gL-1 H3BO4 (T3) , 2000ppm citric acid (T4), 2000ppm ascorbic acid (T5), T2+T4 (T6), T2+T5 ((T7), T3+T4 (T8) and T3+T5 (T9).

A. Yield parameters:

The studied yield parameters of pomegranate trees such as fruits No, fruit yield (kg) /tree and fruit yield (MT)/ha were affected by the understudied treatments of foliar spraying as follows: 1) Fruits No/tree:

As shown inTable1 it can be noticed that in the 1st season the treatment of foliar spraying (T6) i.e. Zn with ascorbic; T2+T4 showed the highest No of pomegranate fruits (44.1) and this treatment had no significant difference with both T7 treatment (T2+T5). On the other hand the lowest fruits No (35.6) was found at no spraying treatment (T1) which had no significant difference with T2 treatment. Same trend was observed in the 2nd season. 2) Fruit yield/tree:

Results in Table1 indicated that in the 1st season although there were no significant differences among T5, T6 (T2+T4) and T7 (T2+T5) treatments, the T7 treatment gave the highest fruit yield/ tree


716

(24.69kg), whereas the lowest fruit yield /tree (15.61kg) were found at control treatment (T1) which had no significant difference with T2 treatment. Same trend was observed in the 2nd season. Table 1: Effect of foliar spraying of some antioxidants and micronutrients on pomegranate yield parameters.

Foliar spraying treatments

No Fruit /tree

Fruit yield

/kg tree

Fruit Yield

MT/ha

No Fruit /tree

Fruit yield

kg/tree

Fruit Yield

MT/ha Season 2015 Season 2016

No spraying, control (T1) 35.6 15.61 12.74 33.86 18.23 14.88 ZnSO4 at 0.5gL-1 (T2) 36.8 17.00 13.87 39.72 23.65 19.30 H3BO3 at 5gL-1 (T3) 40.6 18.70 15.26 41.72 23.62 19.28 Citric at2000ppm (T4) 41.1 22.71 18.53 44.15 25.86 21.10 Ascorbic at2000ppm (T5) 42.3 25.92 21.15 43.17 25.64 20.92 T2+T4 (T6) 44.5 26.72 21.81 45.36 26.21 21.39 T2+T5 (T7) 44.1 27.64 22.56 46.11 27.32 22.29 T3+T4 (T8) 41.1 23.77 19.39 43.47 25.56 20.86 T3+T5 (T9) 40.6 24.69 20.15 43.09 25.22 20.58 LSD0.05 1.746 2.483 2.027 2.872 1.728 1.409

3) Fruit yield (MT)/ha:

Data in Table1 showed that in the 1st season although no significant differences were observed

among T5, T6 (T2+T4) and T7 (T2+T5) treatments, the T7 treatment gave the highest fruit yield/ ha (22.56MT), whereas the lowest fruit yield /ha (14.88MT) were found at control treatment (T1) which had no significant difference with T2 treatment. Same trend was noticed in the 2nd season.

Generally when all foliar spraying treatments were compared with the control treatment (T1) concerning their effects on the investigated pomegranate yield parameters (Fig. 1), it can be concluded that the highest average increases percentages during the two studied seasons were obtained at The T7, T6, T5, T9, T8 and T4, respectively, whereas the lowest ones were at the T2 and T3, respectively.

Fig. 1: Average increase percentages for yield parametrs of Manfaloty pomegranate trees in both

studied seasons (all spraying treatments compared with the no spraying treatment; control (T1).

These results indicated that when micronutrients especially Zn integrated with antioxidants

specially ascorbic acid improved the different yield parameters greater than spraying any of them singly.


717

Besides it can be deduced that the investigated three yield parameters according their response for the different spraying treatments can be arranged as follows; Fruit yield (MT)/ha = Fruit yield (kg)/ tree > No fruits/tree.

The integration effect of antioxidants i.e. ascorbic acid, citric acid with the studied micronutrients especially Zn on the investigated fruit yield parameters can be explained due to that antioxidants have auxinic action and also synergistic effect on flowering and fruiting of fruit trees of most fruit trees, recently antioxidants used instead of auxins and other chemicals for enhancing growth and fruiting of various fruit trees (Ragab, 2002). Also antioxidants have synergistic effect on improving growth, flowering, yield and fruit quality of fruit crops (Barth et al., 1997 and Ahmed et al. (2006).

These are results are in accordance with those obtained by Maksoud et al. (2009) on olive, Fayed (2010) on pomegranate, Ibrahim et al., (2013) on Zaghloul Date Palms and Fayek et al., (2014) and Hafez et al. (2010) on Le Conte pear, Samra et al. (2012) on Balady mandarin fruits, Mansour et al. (2010) on Zebda, Awase, Alphonso and Taimour mango cultivars.

B. Physical and chemical properties of Manfaloty pomegranate fruits: 1) Physical properties of Manfaloty pomegranate fruits:

Data presented in Table2 show the different investigated fruit physical properties of Manfaloty pomegranate trees such as fruit weight (g), fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), fruit cracking%, fruit juice%, fruit aril% and fruit peel% as affected by the understudied treatments of foliar spraying as follows:

Table 2: Effect of foliar spraying of some antioxidants and micronutrients on fruits physical properties of

Manfaloty pomegranate trees.


Fruit weight

(g)

Fruit length (cm)

Fruit Diameter

(cm)

Fruit Cracking

%

Fruit juice%

Fruit aril%

Fruit peel%

Season 2015 No spraying, control (T1) 301.9 6.72 7.26 49.65 34.62 50.90 49.43 ZnSO4 at 0.5gL-1 (T2) 351.7 7.48 7.80 47.55 39.02 53.34 47.33 H3BO3 at 5gL-1 (T3) 405.7 7.64 8.68 42.45 41.91 55.12 45.55 Citric at2000ppm (T4) 422.4 6.96 8.69 42.96 43.77 55.46 48.54 Ascorbic at2000ppm (T5) 442.7 8.05 8.94 39.04 45.37 58.70 41.64 T2+T4 (T6) 459.0 8.05 9.06 36.05 45.41 59.81 40.55 T2+T5 (T7) 455.0 8.06 9.24 33.40 45.27 60.53 39.80 T3+T4 (T8) 414.3 7.27 8.45 39.26 43.58 54.56 46.11 T3+T5 (T9) 419.5 7.02 8.17 41.09 42.83 54.99 46.70 LSD0.05 18.933 0.538 0.722 2.591 1.942 3.175 6.172 Season 2016 No spraying, control (T1) 295.6 6.95 7.55 50.57 33.98 51.00 49.00 ZnSO4 at 0.5gL-1 (T2) 319.7 7.33 7.60 46.27 35.43 52.43 47.57 H3BO3 at 5gL-1 (T3) 387.6 7.52 8.56 44.86 38.22 54.65 45.35 Citric at2000ppm (T4) 414.6 7.76 8.93 40.22 43.42 60.05 39.95 Ascorbic at2000ppm (T5) 437.4 8.01 9.10 39.32 43.07 60.78 39.22 T2+T4 (T6) 445.1 8.01 9.28 38.99 45.39 59.14 40.86 T2+T5 (T7) 450.7 8.22 9.34 38.48 45.24 62.06 37.94 T3+T4 (T8) 403.4 7.50 8.20 40.34 40.03 57.45 42.55 T3+T5 (T9) 400.5 7.16 7.90 39.61 40.40 51.79 48.21 LSD0.05 17.326 0.501 0.403 2.192 1.871 3.112 3.112

a. Fruit weight (g):

Although T6 treatment surpassed the other foliar spraying treatments where it gave the highest

fruit weight (459.0g), this treatment had no significant difference with both T5 and T7 treatments. On the other hand the lowest fruit weight (301.9g) was obtained at the control treatment (T1).


718

b. Fruit length (cm): As shown in Table 2 the highest fruit length (8.06cm) in the 1st season was obtained at T7

treatment which had no significant differences with both T5 and T6. The control treatment (T1) gave the lowest fruit length (6.72cm). The same trend was observed in the 2nd season. c. Fruit diameter (cm):

It is obvious from data in Table2 that the highest fruit diameter (9.24cm) in the 1st season was

obtained at T7 treatment which had no significant differences with T3, T4, T5 and T6 treatments. Whereas, the lowest fruit diameter (7.26cm) was found at T1 treatment which had no significant difference with T2 treatment. The same trend was observed in the 2nd season. d. Fruit cracking%:

Results in Table 2 indicated that the highest fruit cracking% (49.65%) in the 1st season was

obtained at control treatment (T1) which had no significant with T2 treatment. On the other hand the lowest fruit cracking% (33.4%) was noticed at T7 treatment which surpassed significantly all other studied foliar spraying treatments. e. Fruit juice%:

Although there were no significant differences among T4, T5, T6, T7 and T8 treatments (Table

2) concerning their effect on fruit juice% in the 1st season, the highest fruit juice% (45.41%) was found at T6 treatment whereas the lowest one (34.62%) was observed at control treatment (T1). Similar trend was observed in the 2nd season. f. Fruit aril%:

As shown in Table2 the highest fruit aril% (60.5%) in the 1st season was achieved by T7

treatment which had no significant differences with both T5 and T6 treatments. In addition, the lowest fruit aril% (50.90%) was given by the control treatment (T1) which had no significant difference with T2 treatment. The 2nd season took the same trend. g. Fruit peel%:

it is clear from data in Table2 that there were no significant differences among T1, T2, T3, T4,

T8 and T9 treatments regarding their effects on fruit peel% which had the highest percentage (49.43) at control treatment (T1) whereas the lowest one (39.80%0 was observed at T7 treatment which had no significant differences between both T5 and T6 treatments in the 1st season. Similar trend was found in the 2nd season. 2) Chemical properties of Manfaloty pomegranate fruits:

Data presented in Table3 show the different investigated fruit chemical properties of Manfaloty

pomegranate trees such as total soluble solids% (TSS%), acidity% and total sugars as affected by the understudied treatments of foliar spraying as follows: a. Total soluble solids% (TSS%):

The highest TSS (19.4%) was achieved by T7 treatment which had no significant differences

with T4, T5, T6 and T8 treatments (Table 3). On the other hand the lowest TSS (15.5%) was noticed at control treatment (T1) in the 1st season. Similar trend was observed in the 2nd season.


719

b. Acidity%: Results in Table 3 show that the highest acidity (2.22%) in the 1st season was shown at control

treatment (T1) which had no significant difference with T2 treatment, whereas the lowest one (1.10%) was obtained by T6 treatment which had no significant difference with T5, T7, T8 and T9 treatments. The 2nd season gave similar trend. c. Total sugars%:

As shown in Table 3, although there were no significant differences among T4, T5, T6 and T7

treatments with respect to their effect on total sugar%, the highest one (13.36%) was given by T7 (1st season). The lowest total sugar (10.83%) was found at control treatment (T1) which had no significant difference with T2 treatment. The 2nd season took the same trend. Table 3: Effect of foliar spraying of some antioxidants and micronutrients on fruits chemical properties of

Manfaloty pomegranate trees.


TSS% Acidity% Total

sugars% TSS% Acidity%

Total sugars%

Season 2015 Season 2016 No spraying, control (T1) 15.52 2.22 10.83 15.93 2.34 10.98 ZnSO4 at 0.5gL-1 (T2) 16.66 2.06 11.27 16.29 2.11 11.45 H3BO3 at 5gL-1 (T3) 17.42 1.85 11.65 17.66 1.97 11.76 Citric at2000ppm (T4) 18.90 1.61 12.57 18.81 1.76 12.22 Ascorbic at2000ppm (T5) 19.17 1.32 12.77 18.47 1.61 12.37 T2+T4 (T6) 19.01 1.10 13.33 18.71 1.33 12.65 T2+T5 (T7) 19.40 1.10 13.36 19.58 1.13 12.40 T3+T4 (T8) 18.70 1.18 12.12 17.96 1.20 11.75 T3+T5 (T9) 18.14 1.23 12.20 16.95 1.34 11.42 LSD0.05 1.012 0.227 0.979 0.958 0.213 0.590

Generally when all foliar spraying treatments were compared with the control treatment (T1)

concerning their effects on the investigated physical and chemical properties of Manfalouty pomegranate fruits (Fig. 2, 3 &4), it can be concluded that the highest average increases percentages during the two studied seasons were obtained at The T7, T6, T5, T9, T8 and T4, respectively, whereas the lowest ones were at the T2 and T3, respectively.

These results indicated that when micronutrients especially Zn integrated with antioxidants specially ascorbic acid improved the fruit weight, diameter and length (Fig. 2) as well fruit juice%, TSS%, total sugars and fruit aril% (Fig. 3) greater than spraying any of them singly.

Besides it can be deduced that the investigated physical and chemical properties according their response for the different spraying treatments can be arranged as follows; Fruit weight > Fruit diameter > Fruit length (Fig. 2) and Fruit juice% > TSS% > Total sugars% > Fruit aril% (Fig. 3).

Regarding the reduction in the undesirable properties such as acidity%, fruit cracking% and fruit peel% induced by foliar spraying treatments, it can be concluded that the highest decreasing was observed at T7, T6, T5, T8 and T9, respectively (Fig. 4). Also, the response of the undesirable properties for reduction due to the application of different studied foliar spraying treatments can be arranged as follows: acidity% > fruit cracking% > fruit peel%.

The abovementioned results are greed with those obtained by many studies showed that using antioxidants was very effective in promoting yield and fruit quality in various grapevine varieties (Ahmed et al., 2010; El-Hanafy, 2011; Bondok- Sawsan et al., (2011); Ahmed et al., 2011; Mekawy, 2012; Mohamed, 2014; Abdelaal and Aly, 2013 and Abada, 2014) and Moawad et al. (2015) on Superior grapevines.

Also these results are similar with those revealed by many investigators indicated the important role and positive impact of foliar application of both zinc and boron in improving leaves nutrient contents, fruit set, fruit yield and quality of many fruit trees as Osman (1999), Hassan (2000), Talaie et al. (2001), Abd El-Migeed et al. (2002) and Shekafandeh (2009) on olive, Khayyat et al. (2007) on


720

date palm, Razzaq et al. (2013) on Kinnow mandarin, sweet orange and grapes and Ashraf et al. (2014) on citrus

Fig. 2: Average increase percentages for fruit weight, fruit diameter and fruit length properties of

Manfaloty pomegranate trees in both studied seasons (all spraying treatments compared with the no spraying treatment; control (T1 ).

Fig. 3: Average increase percentages for fruit juice%, TSS%, total sugars and fruit aril% properties of



721

Fig. 4: Average decrease percentages for acidity%, fruit cracking% and fruit peel% properties of


C. Nutrient contents of Manfaloty pomegranate leaves: Data presented in Table 4 show the nutrient contents in Manfaloty pomegranate leaves affected

by the understudied treatments of foliar spraying as follows:

1) N leaves content%: The highest N leaves content (2.19%) was obtained by T7 Treatment which had no significant

differences with T4, T5 and T6 treatments in the 1st season, whereas the lowest one (1.12%) was observed at control treatment (T1). It's noteworthy to mention that there were no significant differences among T2, T3, T8 and T9 treatments concerning their effects on N content in Manfaloty pomegranate leaves. Similar trend was observed in the 2nd season.

2) P leaves content%:

The treatment that includes spraying Zn (0.5gL-1) + ascorbic acid (2000ppm) (T7) significantly

surpassed all the other foliar spraying treatments (Table 4) where it gave the highest P leaves content (0.433%) in the 1st season. On the other hand the lowest P leaves content (0.183%) was found at the control treatment (T1). The same trend was noticed in the 2nd season. 3) K leaves content%:

As observed in Table 4 I can be concluded that the highest K leaves content (1.68%) was

obtained by T7 Treatment which had no significant differences with T4, T5, T6, T8 and T9 treatments in the 1st season, whereas the lowest one (1.19%) was observed at control treatment (T1). Similar trend was observed in the 2nd season.


722

4) Ca leaves content%: As shown Table 4 although there were no significant differences among T5, T6 and T7

treatments regarding their effect on Ca content in Manfalotty pomegranate leaves, the highest Ca content (2.92%) was found at T7 treatment. The lowest Ca leaves content (2.29%) was observed at control treatment (T1) in the 1st season. The 2nd season took the same trend.

4) Mg leaves content%:

The treatment that includes spraying Zn (0.5gL-1) + ascorbic acid (2000ppm) (T7) significantly

surpassed all the other foliar spraying treatments (Table 4) where it gave the highest Mg leaves content (0.98%) in the 1st season. On the other hand the lowest Mg leaves content (0.54%) was found at the control treatment (T1). It is worth mentioning that the other treatments had no significant differences concerning their effect on Mg content in Manfalotty pomegranate leaves. The same trend was noticed in the 2nd season.

In conclusion, as shown in Fig.5 it can be concluded that the different foliar spraying treatments can be arranged according their effect on the average increases percentage of leaves nutrients content during the two successive seasons in as follows; the leaves nutrient content such as N, P, K, Ca and Mg induced by foliar spraying treatments, it can be concluded that the highest decreasing was observed at T7 > T6 > T5 > T8 > T9 > T4 T3 > T2 > T1 respectively (Fig. 4). as well the different determining nutrient content can be arranged according their response for the different studied foliar spraying treatments as follows; P > Mg > N > Ca > K.

Similar results were recorded by Ramezani and Shekafandeh (2009) on different fruits and Osman (1999), Talaie et al. (2001) and Hassan (2000) and Abd El-Migeed et al. (2002) on olive and Khayyat et al. (2007) on date palm.

Table 4: Effect of foliar spraying of some antioxidants and micronutrients on nutrient contents in Manfaloty

pomegranate leaves. Foliar spraying treatments

N P K Ca Mg Season 2015

No spraying, control (T1) 1.62 0.183 1.19 2.29 0.54 ZnSO4 at 0.5gL-1 (T2) 1.86 0.247 1.48 2.50 0.68 H3BO3 at 5gL-1 (T3) 1.83 0.243 1.49 2.62 0.69 Citric at2000ppm (T4) 2.06 0.273 1.53 2.68 0.81 Ascorbic at2000ppm (T5) 2.10 0.353 1.58 2.85 0.90 T2+T4 (T6) 2.07 0.373 1.64 2.88 0.95 T2+T5 (T7) 2.19 0.433 1.68 2.92 0.98 T3+T4 (T8) 1.98 0.367 1.56 2.71 0.87 T3+T5 (T9) 1.98 0.353 1.57 2.70 0.89 LSD0.05 0.157 0.058 0.144 0.100 0.994 Season 2016 No spraying, control (T1) 1.56 0.183 1.48 2.11 0.55 ZnSO4 at 0.5gL-1 (T2) 1.81 0.263 1.58 2.62 0.71 H3BO3 at 5gL-1 (T3) 1.87 0.293 1.59 2.67 0.80 Citric at2000ppm (T4) 1.92 0.360 1.60 2.74 0.74 Ascorbic at2000ppm (T5) 2.10 0.393 1.61 2.77 0.86 T2+T4 (T6) 2.19 0.407 1.66 2.76 0.90 T2+T5 (T7) 2.13 0.420 1.68 2.86 0.93 T3+T4 (T8) 1.88 0.340 1.53 2.77 0.88 T3+T5 (T9) 1.90 0.327 1.61 2.66 0.83 LSD0.05 0.179 0.048 0.117 0.156 0.097


723

Fig. 5: Average increase percentages for leaves nutrients content of Manfaloty pomegranate trees in

both studied seasons (all spraying treatments compared with the no spraying treatment; control (T1 ).

References

Abada, M.A.M., 2014. A comparative study for the effect of green tea extract and some antioxidants on Thompson seedless grapevines. Inter. J. of Plant & Soil Sci., 3(10): 1333-1342.

Abd El-Migeed, M.M., M.S. Saleh, E.A.M. Mustafa, M.S. Abou-Raya, 2002. Influence of soil and foliar applications of boron on growth, fruit set, mineral status, and yield and fruit quality of Picual olive trees. Egypt J Appl Sci., 17: 261-272.

Abd-Allah ASE, 2006. Effect of spraying some macro and micro nutrients on fruit set, yield and fruit quality of Washington Navel orange trees. J. App. Sci. Res., 11: 1059-1063.

Abdel Hady, M.A.H. and A.H. Ibrahim, 2001. Effect of using ascorbic acid with some macro and micronutrients on yield and quality of Red Roomy grapes. The Fifth Arabian Horticulture Conference. Ismailia. March 24-28. p: 9-14.

Abdelaal, A.H.M. and M.M. Aly, 2013. The synergistic effects of using turmeric with some antioxidants on growth, vine nutritional status and productivity of Ruby seedless grapevine. Hort. Science J. of Suez Canal Univ., 1: 305-308.

Ahmed, F.F., A.M.K. Abdel- aal, F.H. Abdelaziz and F.M. El- Kady- Hanaa, 2011. Productive capacity of Thompson seedless grapevines as influenced by application of some antioxidants and nutrient treatments. Minia J. of Agric. Res.& Develop, 31(2): 219-232.

Ahmed, F.F., A.M. Akl, A.A. Gobara and A.E. Mansour, 1997. Yield and quality of Anna apple trees (Malus domestica) in response to foliar application of ascorbine and citrine fertilizer. Egypt J. Hort., 25(2): 120-139.

Ashraf, M.Y., N. Iqbal, M. Ashraf, J. Akhter, 2014. Modulation of physiological and biochemical metabolites in salt stressed rice by foliar application of zinc. J. Plant Nutrition., 37: 447-457.

Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, 2000. Official Methods of Analysis (A.O.A.C),12th Ed. Benjamin Franklin Station, Washington D.C. U.S.A. pp: 490-510.


724

Barth, C., M.D. Tullio and P.L. Conklin, 2006. The role of ascorbic acid in the control of flowering time and the onset of senescence. J. Experimental Botany, 57(8): 1657-1665.

Bondok- Sawsan- A., M.M. Shoeib and M.A. Abada, 2011. Effect of ascorbic and salicylic acids on growth and fruiting of Ruby seedless grapevines. Minia J. of Agric. Res.& Develop, 30(1): 85-95.

Brady, N.C. and R.R. Weil, 1996. The Nature and Properties of Soils. Prentice Hall Inc., New Jersey. El- Hanafy, W.M.F., 2011. The role of some antioxidants on improving vines productivity in Red

Roomy grapevine vineyard. M. Sc. Thesis Fac. of Agric. Minia Univ. Egypt. El-Sheikh, M.H., S.A.A. Khafgy and S.S. Zaied, 2007. Effect of Foliar Application with Some

Micronutyrients on Leaf Mineral Content, Yield and Fruit Quality of “Florida Prince Desert Red” Peach Trees. Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science, 3: 309-315.

Fayed, T.A., 2010. Effect of compost tea and some antioxidant applications on leaf chemical constituents .yield and fruit quality of pomegranate. World J. Agricultural Sciences, 6(4): 402-411.

Fayek, M.A., T.A. Fayed, E.M. El-Fakhrani and S.N. Sayed, 2014. Yield and Fruit Quality of “Le-conte" Pear Trees as Affected by Compost Tea and Some Antioxidants Applications. Journal of Horticultural Science& Ornamental Plants, 6(1): 1-8.

Gomez, M.L. and F.M. Lajolo, 2008. Ascorbic acid metabolism in fruits: activity of enzymes involved in synthesis and degradation during ripening in mango and guava. J. Sci. Food and Agric., 88: 756-762.

Hafez, O.M., H.A. Hamouda and M.A. Abd-El - Mageed, 2010. Effect of Calcium and Some Antioxidants treatments on Storability of Le Conte Pear Fruits and its Volatile Components. Nature and Science., 8(5): 109-126.

Hassan, S.A., 2000. Morphological and physiological studies on flowering, pollination and fruiting of picual olive trees. Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Agric. Cairo University, Egypt.

Hassan, H.S.A., S.M.A. Sarrwy and E.A.M. Mostafa, 2010. Effect of Foliar Spraying with Liquid Organic Fertilizer, Some Micronutrients and Gibberellins on Leaf Minerals Content, Fruit Set, Yield, and Fruit Quality of “Hollywood” Plum Trees. Agriculture and Biology Journal of North America, 1: 638-643.

Hepaksoy, S., Y.S. Kukul, H. Engin, D. Erogul and M. Aksehirli, 2009. Leaf water potential of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) under different irrigation levels. Acta Hort., (818): 193-198.

Ibrahim, H.I.M., F.F. Ahmed, A.M.M.A. Akl, and M.N.S. Rizk, 2013. Improving Yield Quantitively andQualitatively of Zaghloul Date Palms by using some Antioxidants. Stem Cell, 4(2): 35-40.

Kaneko, S., T. Ishil and T. Matsung, 1997. A boron rhamnoyalcafuronan II- complex frombamboo shot cell walls. Phytochemistry, 49: 243-248.

Khayyat, M., E. Tafazoli, S. Eshghi, S. Rajaee, 2007. Effect of nitrogen, boron, potassium and zinc sprays on yield and fruit quality of date palm. American-Eurasian J Agric and Environ Sci, 2: 289-296.

Lansky, E.P. and R.A. Newman, 2007. Review: Punica granatum(pomegranate) and its potential for prevention and treatment of inflammation and cancer. J. Ethnopharm., 109: 177-206.

Maksoud, M.A., M.A. Saleh, M.S. El-Shamma and A.A. Fouad, 2009. The beneficial effect of biofertilizers and antioxidants on olive trees under calcareous soil conditions. World J. Agric. Sci., 5(3): 350-352.

Mansour, A.E.M., M.S. El-Shammaa, E.A. Shaaban and M.A. Maksoud, 2010. Influence of some Antioxidants on Yield and Fruit Quality of Four Mango Cultivars. Research Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, 6(6): 962-965.

Mekawy, A.Y.H., 2012. Attempts for improving yield quantitatively and qualititatively of Thompson seedless grapevines by application of some antioxidants with humic acid and farmyard manure extract. Ph. D. Thesis Fac. of Agric. Minia Univ., Egypt.

Mengel, K.E., A. Kirkby, H. Koesgarten and T. Appel, 2001. Principles of Plant Nutrition. 5th El- Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht p: 1-311.

Moawad, A. Mohamed, Mohamed A. El- Sayed, Ahmed M.K. Abdelaal and Moustafa A.A. Ebrahiem, 2015. Response of Superior Grapevines to Spraying Some Antioxidants. World Rural Observations, 7(4).

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.629.8548&rep=rep1&type=pdf




725

Mohamed, I. and S. Mehdi, 2014. Salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate improve the quality attributes of Iranian table grape (Vitis vinifera L. cv. shahani ).Annals of Horticulture, 6(2): 205-214.

Mohamed, W.B.M., 2014. Effect of some amino acid, nutrients and salicylic acid treatments onSuperior grapevines. cv. M. Sc. Thesis Fac. of Agric. El- Azhar Univ. Assiut Branch, Egypt.

Osman, L.H., 1999. Response of Picual olive trees to soil fertilization with borax and magnesium sulphate. Minufiya J Agric Res., 24: 277-287.

Ragab, M.M., 2002. Effect of spraying urea, ascorbic acid and NAA on fruiting of Washington Navel orange trees. M. Sc. Thesis. Fac. Agric. Minia. Nutr., 16: 163-166.Univ. Egypt.

Ramezani, S., A. Shekafandeh, 2009. Roles of gibberellic acid and zinc sulphate in increasing size and weight of olive fruit. African J Biotech, 8: 6791-6794.

Rao, M.V., R. Koch and K.R. Davis, 2000. Ozone a tool for probing programmed cell death in plants. Plant Mol. Biol., 44(3): 346-358.

Rasouli-Sadeghiani, M.H., M.J. Malakouti, S.M. Samar, 2002. The effectiveness of different application methods of zinc sulfate on nutritional conditions of apple in calcareous soil of Iran. 17th World Congress of Soil Science, Thailand, paper no, 2151.

Razzaq, K.A., S. Khan, A.U. Malik, M. Shahid, S. Ullah, 2013. Foliar application of zinc influences the leaf mineral status, vegetative and reproductive growth, and yield and fruit quality of ‘KINNOW’ mandarin. J. Plant. Nutr., 36: 1479-1495.

Samra, N.R., M.I. EL–Kady, E.E.T. EL–Baz and M.S.H. Ghanem, 2010. Studies towards for effect of some antioxidants on yield and fruit quality of balady mandarin trees (Citrus reticulata, blanco).J. Plant Production, Mansoura Univ., 3(1): 51-58.

Snedecor, G.W. and W.G. Cochran, 1980. Statistical Methods.7th Edn. Iowa State Univ. Press Ames. Low USA.

Swietlik, D., 1999. Zinc nutrition in horticultural crops. Horticultural Reviews. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York., 23: 109-180.

Talaie, A., M.T. Badmahmoud, M.J. Malakout, 2001. The effect of foliar application of N, B and Zn on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of olive fruit. Iranian J Agric Sci., 32: 727-736.

Waheed, U.R., 1992. Effect of Foliar Application of Micronutrients in Combination with Urea on Yield and Fruit Quality of Sweet Oranges. M.Sc. (Hons) NWFP, Agriculture University Peshawar, Pakistan

Wilde, S.A., R.B. Corey, J.G. Layer and G.K. Voigt, 1985. Soils and Plant Analysis for Tree Culture. Oxford and IBH publishing Co., New Delhi, India.

Yagoden, B.A., 1990. Agriculture chemistry Mir Publishers Moscow, pp: 278-281.

effect of foliar spraying of some antioxidants and ...curresweb.com/mejas/mejas/2017/713-725.pdf ·...

Documents