Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
Noni has been introduced in Brazil just over a decade ago. Therefore, the information regarding crop fertilization and its influence on fruit quality is rare in the literature. Among macronutrients, potassium is highly concentrated in noni plants, and fertilization with cattle manure contributes to plant nutrition and fruit quality. This study sought to evaluate the effect of potassium fertilizer and cattle manure on the physical and physicochemical attributes of noni fruits. The treatments were distributed in randomized blocks, with four replications and two plants per plot, arranged in a factorial design 5 × 2 related to 0, 13.2, 37.5, 61.5 and 69.6 g plant-1 potassium chloride doses in soils without and with 12 kg plant-1 of cattle manure, with a C/N = 18:1 ratio. Cattle manure increased the average fruit weight from 99.6 to 113.4 g, expressing an increase of 13.9% for plants without and with organic compounds. Potassium chloride provided an increase of 61% in fruit weight and 31.25% in titratable acidity in fruits of plants without and with the highest dose of potassium chloride. Potassium chloride and cattle manure increased fruit mass, fruit length, fruit diameter, pulp mass, vitamin C and glucose contents in noni fruits.
Key words: Fruit quality, Morinda citrifolia L., organic mineral fertilizer.
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