Rhizosphere Microorganisms and Their Effect on Fruit Quality - Postharvest Biology and Technology of Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers - page 365

Table 17.2 Effect of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus G. fasciculatum on yield and
fruit weight of tomato ( L. esculentum Mill. cv. Rıo Fuego)

Marketable grade Weight/fruit

Treatments Yield/plant (g) yield (%) (g)

CTL 622b 76 67.8b

Gf 963a 84 74.6a

CTL, noninoculated control plants supplied with full strength P (44 mg/L).
Gf , G. fasciculatum -inoculated plants supplied with low P (22 mg/L).
Means of yield followed by different letter are significantly different based on minimum
significant difference (MSD) test ( p

4). Means of weight followed by different
letter are significantly different based on MSD test ( p

< 0.05, n =

< 0 . 05, n = 10).

data). In this sense, Vavrina (1999) found differences in pepper quality after inoculating
the plants with different PGPR strains. In general, fruits of better quality as well as greater
number of extra large and large fruits were obtained from inoculated plants compared to
those from plants cultivated by conventional fertilization. In a similar way, inoculation of
tomato ( Lycopersiconesculentum Mill.) with either AMF or PGPR leads to increasing total
and marketable yields as a consequence of improving appearance, particularly size (Tables
17.2 and 17.3).
Potato ( Solanumtuberosum L.) also responds positively to the AMF inoculation. Duffy
and Cassells (2000) reported that arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants improve economic
yield quality in potato micropropagation. The average number of seed grade tubers in plants
inoculated with a commercial mixture of isolates resulted 2.2 times higher than that found
in noninoculated microplants. Their study also revealed the dependence on the mycorrhizal
isolate and the host genotype, which pointed to the need for more investigation in different
potato cultivars. As well, it is widely known that AMF help host plants to tolerate water
stress and those benefits are reflected in the quality of fruits grown under stress conditions.
In this sense, Kaya et al. (2003) reported that mycorrhizal inoculation with Glomus clarum
significantly reduced the detrimental effect of water stress on fruit yield of watermelon
( Citrullus lanatus Thunb.) with higher total yields (35.26 kg/plant). Marketable fruit yield
was at its lowest in the water stress noninoculated plants (17.60 kg/plant), while AMF in
water-stressed plants restored fruit yield (26.13 kg/plant) to a level similar to well-watered
plants (27.96 kg/plant).

Table 17.3 Effect of the growth-promoting rhizobacteria
B. subtillis BEB-13bs on yield and fruit weight of tomato
( L. esculentum Mill. cv. Rıo Fuego)

Marketable grade

Treatments Yield/plant (g) yield (%)

Noninoculated plants 648b 66

BEB-13bs- inoculated 787a 72

plants

Means of yield followed by different letter are significantly differ-
ent based on MSD test ( p 4). Means of weight fol-

lowed by different letter are significantly different based on MSD
test ( P

< 0 . 05, n =

< 0 . 05, n = 10).