Compost and Compost Tea Management of Mini Watermelon Cultivations Affects the Chemical, Physical and Sensory Assessment of the Fruits

摘要

Compost, rich in plant nutrients, is a readily available fertilizer with beneficial effects on physical,\udchemical, biochemical and biological properties of the soils. Moreover compost-based treatments\udcan exert protective effects against plant diseases occurrence and/or stimulate an enhanced plant\udphysiological status with improvements in quantity and quality of crop productions. In this study\udthe effects of three different compost-based cropping managements on the productive response\udand main quality parameters of watermelon fruits were investigated. Treatments, in comparison\udwith the conventional cultivation method, were: soil amendment with an agricultural waste compost\ud(AWC), a municipal waste compost (MWC) and a foliar treatment with a compost tea blend\ud(CTB). The productive responses and colour parameters related to compost treatments did not\udshow significant differences compared to control ones, which reached a total yield of about 10.22\udkg∙m−2 with a mean weight of 2.74 kg. AWC caused a higher ascorbic acid content with an increase\udof 50% than conventional treatment, while fruits obtained by CTB showed higher values in firmness\udand Quality Index than control samples. The analysis of main sugars highlighted that the application\udof compost as biofertilizer influenced the ratio among fructose, glucose and sucrose with\udrespect to those observed for control fruits.