Post harvest quality of melon varieties grown under saline stress and potassium doses

Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted in the years 2003 and 2004 in Mossoró, RN, Brazil to evaluate post harvest quality of melon varieties grown under saline stress and potassium doses. In the first experiment four treatments resulting from the combination of two salinity of irrigation water (EC = 0.80 and 3.02 dS m^-1) and two varieties of melon (Orange Flesh and Goldex) were tested. In the second experiment the effects of ten treatments resulting from the combination of five doses of K2O (218, 273, 328, 383 and 438 kg ha^-1) with two irrigation water salinities (ECw = 0.52 and 2.41 dS m^-1) were tested, using only the Goldex crop. Both experiments were carried out in random blocks design with four repetitions. At the time of harvest and thirty
days after the storage of the fruits in a cold chamber, the variable values were determined: content of soluble solids, total titratable acidity, pH, juice electrical conductivity, pulp firmness and weight loss after thirty days of storage. Increased salinity of irrigation water did not influence the values of most of the characteristics evaluated, but it improved the quality of the fruits of the Orange Flesh variety by increasing the content of total soluble solids in the fruits. Increasing the dose of K in cv. Goldex declined fruits weight loss evaluated thirty days after the storage.