Tomato quality (Solanum lycopersicum L.) produced in aquaponics complemented with foliar fertilization of micronutrients Tomato quality produced in aquaponics and micronutrients

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the effect of foliar applications of micronutrients on the quality of
tomato fruits (Solanum lycopersicum L.) produced in aquaponics.
Design/methodology/approach: the treatments were ACU, aquaponics; ACUFF1
equated more foliar fertilization 1 (in mg L-1) with 12.50 Fe, 5.83 Mn, 1.17 Zn, 1.08 B,
0.47 Cu, 0.43 Mo and ACUFF2, equated more foliar fertilization 2 (in mg L-1) 25.0 Fe,
11.67 Mn, 2.33 Zn, 2.17 B, 0.93 Cu and 0.87 Mo and conventional hydroponics, HID,
with the Steiner nutrient solution. To evaluate total soluble solids (SST), titratable acidity
(AT), SST / AT ratio, electrical conductivity (EC), pH and lycopene content, ripe fruits
(completely red) were used. The experiment was conducted under a completely
randomized design with four repetitions. An analysis of variance was performed using
the GLM procedure and the compared of means by Tukey (P ? 0.05) with the SAS 9.3
program.
Results: foliar applications in aquaponics did not affect SST, AT, SST / AT ratio and
lycopene concentration but there was a slight difference in tomato juice pH, the AT, pH,
SST / AT ratio and lycopene in aquaponics treatments showed no significant differences
and only SST decreased 22.2% in ACU, 26.6% in ACUFF1 and 31.7% in ACUFF2
compared to HID.

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Limitations of the study/implications: the attributes of fruit quality in aquaponics
systems are not affected by the application of nutrients via foliar, which indicates that
this practice is not necessary under the conditions in which the experiment was
developed.
Findings/Conclusions: in aquaponics, foliar applications of micronutrients did not
positively influence the chemical quality attributes of tomato fruits.