Effects Of Boron On The Growth And Fruit Flavor Of Tomato

Boron is one of the six essential trace elements,it plays an important role in plant growth and development and participates in many physiological and biochemical processes in plants.The tomato is widely cultivated in China,but the extensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides lead to decreased quality of tomato through reasonable application of boron fertilizer can improve the growth of tomato and fruit flavor quality,solve the problems in production.In this study,'Jinpeng No.1' as experimental material,using soilless culture method,boric acid by spraying nutrient solution and mixed fertilizer of different concentration,the physiological indexes of tomato plants were measured,and the tomato fruit yield and quality were determined to explore different boron concentrations in improving tomato plant growth and fruit quality and other aspects of the role.The main results are as follows:Boron treatment significantly increased the growth of tomato plants,and the content of photosynthetic pigments and photosynthetic capacity increased in different degrees.The effects of spraying 1.9 mg/L with foliar solution and 3.8 mg/L boric acid mixed with nutrient solution were better,Chla/b ratio was increased by 14.1% and 11.9% and the net photosynthetic rate were increased by 37.2% and 21.9% respectively;in addition,boron treatment also increased the soluble protein and ascorbic acid content in tomato leaves;this indicates that boron nutrition can improve plant photosynthesis effect,improve photosynthetic pigment contents in leaves,improve the resistance of tomato plants to ensure their normal growth.Boron treatment significantly increased tomato fruit weight and yield,and foliar application of 5.7 mg/L and 3.8 mg/L boric acid mixed with nutrient solution treatment compared with the control yield were significantly increased by 138.2% and 168.9% respectively;the soluble sugar,soluble solids,soluble protein,Vc,beta carotene and lycopene content of tomato fruits also have different degrees of improvement.Foliar application of 5.7 mg/L and 3.8 mg/L boric acid mixed with nutrient solution treatment were increased by 50.4% and 39.1% respectively and the fruit nitrate accumulation in the safe range as well,suggesting that rational application of boron fertilizer could increase tomato yield,improve fruit quality,ensure the safety.Volatile organic compounds were determined by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS).Boron treatment significantly increased the quantity and content of volatile substances in tomato fruits,and the difference was mainly reflected in alcohols and aldehydes;The content and quantity characteristics of aromatic compounds in tomato fruits have different degrees of increase,foliar application of 1.9 mg/L and 3.8 mg/L boric acid mixed with nutrient solution treatment were detected 13 and 14 kinds of characteristic aromatic compounds respectively.It indicated that suitable boron treatment could increase the taste of fruit and improve the flavor quality of tomato.