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LEAF ION CONTENT, YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF FIELD-GROWN MELON UNDER SALINE CONDITIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2018

MAHMOUD AKRAMI ,
AHMAD ARZANI  and
ZAHRA MAJNOUN
MAHMOUD AKRAMI
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University ofTechnology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
AHMAD ARZANI*
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University ofTechnology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
ZAHRA MAJNOUN
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University ofTechnology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
*
†Corresponding author. Email: a_arzani@cc.iut.ac.ir
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Summary

Our knowledge of melon (Cucumis melo L.) response to salinity stress is limited under field conditions and then the genotype × environment interaction and heritability of agro-morphological traits are poor understood. A field trial (2014/2015) was carried out to evaluate the performance of 17 melon cultivars, including 16 native and one exotic (Galia), under salinity stress. Leaf ion concentrations, agronomic, morphological and fruit quality traits were evaluated and their heritabilities were estimated. The results showed significant effects of salinity stress and genotype on the studied traits except for days to anthesis and peel thickness. Salinity stress also caused significant reductions in fruit weight and leaf K+ concentration, while increasing leaf Na+ and Ca2+ concentrations and total soluble solids. The most salt-tolerant cultivars (‘Sabouni’ and ‘Shahabadi-1’) had higher fruit yield, low leaf Na+ and high leaf K+ concentrations and enhanced K+/Na+ ratio under stress conditions. In general, the heritability estimates were higher under control than under salinity conditions, and the highest heritability was observed for total soluble solids. In addition, fruit weight, number of fruit per plant and leaf Na+ concentration were the strongest predictors of fruit yield, explaining 92% of yield variation under salt stress. These observations suggest that indirect selection based on these traits would be effective in improving fruit production under saline conditions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 55 , Issue 5 , October 2019 , pp. 707 - 722
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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