The Efficacy of Calcium Nutrition on Pulp Mineral Composition – Management Assignment Help

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An experiment was conducted to assess the efficacy of calcium nutrition on pulp mineral composition and fruit quality of dragon fruit. Calcium was applied in soil @ 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 600g hill-1 year-1. The study revealed that application ill-1 year-1 exhibited the highest acquisition of N, K, Ca, Zn, B and Cu in the fruit pulp of dragon fruit. However, the acquisition of P, Mg, Fe and Mn was higher at lower level of calcium (200g hill-1 year-1). Maximal yield, fruit weight, fruit firmness, TSS, reducing sugar, sucrose, protein, betacyanin, total phenol, total flavonoid and FRAP activity were also recorded with the Ca level of 400g hill-1 year-1. Significant correlation between the pulp calcium content and fruit quality parameters provides decisive evidences of beneficial effect of calcium nutrition in enhancing quality yield in dragon fruit under acidic soil condition. Results clearly indicate that year-1 may be considered optimum for obtaining higher yield in dragon fruit with enhanced quality attributes under acidic soil condition. Key words: Calcium, Dragon fruit, Mineral composition, Quality attributes INTRODUCTION Calcium is an essential macronutrient which is associated with the plant growth and development by performing a variety of physiological functions. It maintains cellular structure, integrity and polarity; additionally it plays an important role as intracellular secondary messenger and in transcriptional regulation. Moreover, it is also associated with pollen germination and pollen tube elongation (Bhardwaj et al., 2; Gilroy et al., 8; Zheng et al., 28). Besides plant growth and development, calcium is also a key element for ensuring higher yield and better fruit quality (Hosseini et al., 11).

Deficiency of calcium is quite evident in developing sinks (young leaves and fruits) due to its low mobility, hence in order to ensure efficient growth of sink, calcium should be made available in sufficient amounts (Thor, 20). Hence, the acquisition and distribution of the element within the plant system in optimal quantity is required to be ensured in order to comply with important physiological functions. Dragon fruit (Selenicereus spp.) is considered as one of the important tropical fruits due to its nutritional value and market potential. It is also emerging as a potential industrial crop due to the presence of betalain, a pigment used as a natural food colourant (Fathordoobady et al., 7). Dragon fruit exhibits a wide range of adaptability due to the presence of unique CAM photosynthetic pathway. In recent past, the cultivation of dragon fruit has increased substantially under different agroclimatic conditions. However, the market potential of crop necessitates the production of quality fruits for which management of mineral nutrition is one of the most widely accepted approach. Plants require various mineral ions as essential nutrients, which are withdrawn from soil and distributed throughout the plant system (Grusak et al., 9). Each mineral nutrient plays diverse and fundamental roles in maintaining the plant growth and development. Fruit production under acidic soil condition is often constrained due to unavailability of primary, secondary nutrients and boron. Calcium as a secondary element plays a vital role in regulating the transport of other nutrients into the plant system under acidic soil conditions (Tian et al., 21). In India, dragon fruit is mainly cultivated in red and yellow soils which are acidic and low in Ca content and under such condition the quality of dragon fruit is affected. Considering the potentiality of the crop and magnitude of studies conducted in standardizing the optimal dose of nutrient for dragon fruit, it is necessary to evaluate the influence of calcium under different agro-climatic conditions. Limited studies have been conducted on implication of soil application of calcium on yield and quality of dragon fruit. Hence, the present investigation is aimed at assessing the influence of calcium nutrition on fruit mineral composition, yield and biochemical attributes of red-fleshed dragon fruit (Selenicereus monacanthus). It is hypothesized that soil application of calcium can be one of the effective management strategies in enhancing yield and quality attributes of dragon fruit under acidic soil conditions.