Impact of Cultivar and Production Practices on Yield and Phytonutrient Content of Organically Grown Watermelon

Abstract

Cultural practices can affect quality and phytonutrient content of watermelon [Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai]. Knowing which cultivars perform well under various production systems, and how these systems affect quality, yield, and phytonutrient content is imperative to ensure high quality and yield. There is limited information on how watermelon cultivars perform when grown with organic practices. Production characteristics of six watermelon cultivars from certified organic seed sources were compared under high (black plastic and mechanical cultivation for weed control) and low input (no-till) organic culture. The high input production method almost doubled the number of fruit produced for all cultivars; producing greater yields and heavier average fruit weights, but fruit had decreased quality (lower Brix and lycopene content) compared with the low-input production. ‘Triple Star’ was the most productive seedless cultivar in terms of number of fruit in both organic fields and had the highest marketable yield in the low-input field. ‘Early Moonbeam’ produced the largest number of fruit and the smallest fruit of the seeded cultivars. ‘Allsweet’, a seeded cultivar, had the highest marketable yield due to its larger size. ‘Triple Star’ had the highest quality (high lycopene and Brix content) in the low input field, but all triploid cultivars had similar quality aspects in the high input field. Among seeded cultivars, ‘Allsweet’ had the best quality at both locations; however, average lycopene content/fruit under low-input production was not significantly different when compared with ‘Sugar Baby’.

Key Words:

• Citrullus lanatus
• lycopene
• organic
• quality
• watermelon