Relationship of leaf nutrient concentrations on fruit yield and quality of apple

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of leaf nutrient content on the fruit yield and quality parameters of the "Gala Redlum" apple cultivar, a study was conducted at SKUAST-K during 2020 under laboratory conditions. For leaf nutrient content the assessed parameters were nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn) and Boron(B) and the quality parameters included fruit length, diameter, weight, volume, total soluble solids, total sugar and yield. The results demonstrated that among the leaf nutrients the N, P and K content in the leaves showed a significant and positive correlation with fruit length, diameter, weight, volume, total soluble solids, total sugar and yield, while as Ca depicted a significant and positive correlation only with fruit firmness and Mg with total sugar. Additionally, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn and B levels in the leaves were significantly and positively co-related to fruit length, diameter, volume, weight, total sugars, total soluble solids and yield. Therefore this study highlights that nutrient levels in leaves considerably influence the yield and quality characteristics of apple.