Nitrogen and Sulfur Interaction Affects Strawberry Production and Quality

ABSTRACT

Understanding ionic interactions is essential to promote adequate crop nutrition. This study aimed to evaluate the interaction between nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) and their effects on strawberries’ production and postharvest quality. The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions adopting a completely randomized design in a 3 × 5 factorial scheme with four replicates. The treatments consisted of the combination of three rates of S (0, 30, and 60 mg dm⁻³) in the form of calcium sulfate (CaSO₄·2 H₂O) and five rates of N (0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 mg dm⁻³) in the form of urea (pro analysis grade) enriched to 10 atom% ¹⁵N. The fruits were harvested weekly when showing ¾ maturation. At the end of the harvest, evaluations of the mineral composition of the plants’ shoots, determination of N utilization, and physicochemical analyses of the fruit pulp were performed. The results showed that the interaction between N and S affected the fertilizer use efficiency (FUE), strawberry production, and the physicochemical attributes of the fruit pulp. Applying 120 mg dm⁻³ N and 30 mg dm⁻³ S improved both strawberry production and postharvest quality. Therefore, balancing N and S levels can improve both the yield and quality of strawberries.

KEYWORDS:

• ¹⁵N isotope
• bioactive compounds
• Fragaria L
• ionic interaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Council for Scientific Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico - CNPq), the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES), and the Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG) for financial support and scholarships.

Author’s statement

The authors declare that the study was part of the master’s dissertation of the first author (Assis, 2017).