103(4)_str52

ISSN 1392-3196 / e-ISSN 2335-8947
Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, vol. 103, No. 4 (2016), p. 405–410
DOI  10.13080/z-a.2016.103.052

Effects of cucumber grafting on yield and fruit sensory characteristics

Nikolay VELKOV, Galina PEVICHAROVA

Abstract

During the period 2014–2015 the effects of cucumber grafting on yield and fruit sensory characteristics were studied under glasshouse conditions. Three long type parthenocarpic cucumber cultivars were grafted on five cucurbit rootstocks. The aim of the study was to compare the yield, elements of productivity and fruit sensory characteristics in order to establish the most appropriate scion/rootstock combinations. The highest yield was recorded in combination cv. ‘Kiara F₁’ grafted on Cucurbita maxima × C. moschata F₁. Rootstocks of Lagenaria and C. maxima and control treatments showed great earliness of cucumber scions. C. maxima × C. moschata F₁ rootstock induced the highest fruit number per plant. The effect of rootstock on fruit quality showed a significant variation in the value of sensory traits appearance, aroma, taste and total sensory evaluation depending on the scion and rootstock combinations. C. maxima × C. moschata F1, Lagenaria and C. maxima rootstocks demonstrated good compatibility with the studied cucumber cultivars. The choice of combinations between scion cultivar and rootstock species should be determined after preliminary studies of both components.

Keywords: appearance, Cucumis sativus, fruit number, fruit weight, taste, texture.

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