Speaker
Description
Molybdenum (Mo) is an essential trace element for humans and plants. The use of agronomic biofortification to increase the accumulation of micronutrient in plant tissue can be a valuable approach to overcome nutritional deficiencies affecting over the half of the world population. Concomitantly, the application of microbial biostimulants, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), is an effective strategy to stimulate plant yield and quality features, overcoming abiotic distresses, such as trace element overdose which could determine phytotoxic effects. The aim of the current research was to evaluate the synergistic influence of Mo dose (0.0, 0.5, 2.0 or 4.0 μmol L-1) and the Glomus intraradices arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on yield and qualitative traits of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) ‘Tyty’ F1 hybrid grown in an open cycle soilless system. Total yield, marketable yield, fruit dry matter, soluble solids content (SSC), ascorbic acid (AA), lycopene, polyphenol and molybdenum concentration were observed. Furthermore, to appraise the physiological plant response to AMF and Mo treatments, malondialdehyde and proline concentrations were determined. Data revealed that AMF application increased yield traits, SSC, ascorbic acid, polyphenols, and fruit lycopene concentration. Moreover, Mo supply significantly enhanced SSC, polyphenols, tomato Mo concentration and proline. Furthermore, results showed that AMF inoculation alleviated the harmful effect of high Mo dosages. The combination of AMF and Mo application highlighted an improvement of lycopene and Mo fruit concentrations. This study suggests that Mo supplementation at 2.0 or 4.0 μmol L-1 in combination with AMF inoculation could be a viable cultivation strategy to enhance plant yield and fruit quality in cherry tomato, improving the Mo dose in human diet.
