| Title: | Fruit quality assessment of watermelons grafted onto citron melon rootstock |
| Author(s): | Fredes A; Rosello S; Beltran J; Cebolla-Cornejo J; Perez-de-Castro A; Gisbert C; Pico MB; |
| Address: | "Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural, Universitat Jaume I, Campus de Riu Sec, 12071, Castellon, Spain. Instituto Universitario de Plaguicidas y Aguas (IUPA), Universitat Jaume I, Campus de Riu Sec, 12071, Castellon, Spain. Instituto de Conservacion y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera, 46022, Valencia, Spain" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1097-0010 (Electronic) 0022-5142 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "BACKGROUND: The grafting of watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) is a common technique that increases yield under stressful soil conditions. The most common rootstocks for watermelons are Cucurbita hybrids. However, they often have a negative impact on fruit quality. Exploiting novel Citrullus germplasm such as citron melon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides) is an alternative to avoid these quality problems. RESULTS: Citron melon has been validated as watermelon rootstock, comparing its effects on watermelon quality to those of Cucurbita hybrids. Larger fruits with thicker rinds were observed in fruits from plants grafted onto both citron and Cucurbita rootstocks. The citron melon had no significant effect on flesh sugars or acid profiles compared to non-grafted watermelons, except for an increase in glucose and malic acid content, which also occurred in the Cucurbita rootstocks. The aroma profile of fruits produced on citron melon was similar to that of the non-grafted and self-grafted controls. The citron rootstock did not display the increased levels of (Z)-6-nonen-1-ol (a compound associated with pumpkin-like odors) found in fruits produced with Cucurbita hybrids. CONCLUSION: The low impact of citron melon rootstock on fruit quality, along with the enhanced resistance against nematodes, make the citron a promising alternative to Cucurbita rootstocks. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry" |
| Keywords: | Acids/analysis Citrullus/*chemistry/*growth & development Cucurbita Fruit/chemistry/growth & development Monosaccharides/analysis Odorants Plant Roots Spain Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis Citrullus lanatus aroma profile fruit quality grafting; |
| Notes: | "MedlineFredes, Alejandro Rosello, Salvador Beltran, Joaquim Cebolla-Cornejo, Jaime Perez-de-Castro, Ana Gisbert, Carmina Pico, Maria Belen eng England 2016/07/21 J Sci Food Agric. 2017 Mar; 97(5):1646-1655. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.7915. Epub 2016 Sep 2" |
