Non-conventional water sources and water saving techniques can become a valuable implement in semiarid regions, although its long-term effects on the citrus quality are little known. This study evaluated the effects of irrigation with two sources: transfer water (TW) and reclaimed water (RW) combined with two irrigation strategies: full irrigation (FI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) on fruit quality response of mandarins and grapefruits during eight growth seasons. RESULTS: The RW irrigation in mandarin, without water restriction, determined maturity index (MI, SSC·TA-1) lower than in the TW-FI, owing to titratable acidity (TA) increased to a greater degree than soluble solid contents (SSC). Nevertheless, juice quality standards were satisfied. Besides, regardless of the irrigation treatment (FI or RDI), an increasing trend fruit weight was also detected by RW.
In grapefruit, its rootstock (Citrus Macrophylla) enhanced salinity resilience respect to the rootstock of mandarin (Carrizo Citrange) and, hence, MI was not affected by RW. The RDI strategy, without saline stress (TWRDI), increased in similar degree both SSC and TA in mandarin fruit, not modifying the MI. In grapefruit, the MI did improve by water stress of RDI since while SSC significantly increase, TA did not change. The combination of both strategies, RW-RDI, decreased the MI only some years since TA increased proportionally more than SSC in mandarin. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, mid and long-term feasibility of using RW and RDI to irrigate citrus was demonstrated. However, they must be performed cautiously and with appropriate management to avoid damaging fruit quality caused by phytotoxic elements.
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Source:
Cristina Romero-Trigueros, Juan José Alarcón Cabañero, Pedro Antonio Nortes Tortosa, José María Bayona Gambín, José Francisco Maestre-Valero, Emilio Nicolás Nicolás.
Corresponding Author: Romero-Trigueros