Fruit Characteristics of Citrus Trees Grown under Different Soil Cu Levels
Xiaorong Mo,
Chuanwu Chen,
Muhammad Riaz,
Mohamed G. Moussa,
Xiangling Chen,
Songwei Wu,
Qiling Tan,
Xuecheng Sun,
Xiaohu Zhao,
Libiao Shi,
Chengxiao Hu
Affiliations
Xiaorong Mo
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Chuanwu Chen
Guangxi Laboratory of Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Specialty Commercial Crops in North Guangxi, Guangxi Academy of Specialty Crops, Guilin 541004, China
Muhammad Riaz
College of Resources and Environment, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China
Mohamed G. Moussa
Soil and Water Research Department, Nuclear Research Center, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo 13759, Egypt
Xiangling Chen
Horticulture Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530007, China
Songwei Wu
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Qiling Tan
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Xuecheng Sun
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Xiaohu Zhao
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Libiao Shi
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Chengxiao Hu
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
The effects of the increased soil copper (Cu) on fruit quality due to the overuse of Cu agents have been a hot social issue. Seven representative citrus orchards in Guangxi province, China, were investigated to explore the fruit quality characteristics under different soil Cu levels and the relationship between soil-tree Cu and fruit quality. These results showed that pericarp color a value, titratable acid (TA), and vitamin C (Vc) were higher by 90.0, 166.6, and 22.4% in high Cu orchards and by 50.5, 204.2, and 55.3% in excess Cu orchards, compared with optimum Cu orchards. However, the ratio of total soluble solids (TSS)/TA was lower by 68.7% in high Cu orchards and by 61.6% in excess Cu orchards. With the increase of soil Cu concentrations, pericarp color a value and Vc were improved, TA with a trend of rising first then falling, and TSS/TA with a trend of falling first then rising were recorded. As fruit Cu increased, pericarp color a value and TSS reduced and as leaf Cu increased, TSS/TA decreased while Vc was improved. Moreover, a rise in soil Cu enhanced leaf Cu accumulation, and a rise in leaf Cu improved fruit Cu accumulation. Fruit Cu accumulation reduced fruit quality by direct effects, leaf Cu improved fruit quality by direct and indirect effects. Soil Cu affected fruit quality by indirect effects by regulating leaf Cu and fruit Cu. Therefore, reasonable regulation and control of soil Cu concentrations can effectively increase pericarp color, sugar, and acid accumulation in citrus fruit.
