Persistence of eggplant fruits grown at different levels of mineral nutrition

The purpose of the work is to determine the effect of the level of mineral nutrition on the preservation of eggplant fruits during short-term storage in unregulated conditions. The main volumes of eggplant production are produced in the south of Russia, and consumption is concentrated in the Central and North-Western regions. As a consequence, the fruit must be stored before being sold to the consumer under unregulated conditions. Scientific research was conducted in 2021–2022 at the Rostovsky Selection and Seed Center LLC of the Poisk Agrofirm. The research area is characterized by high heat availability of the growing season with a deficit of precipitation and low relative humidity. Eggplant was grown on ordinary black soil with an average level of provision with the basic elements of nutrition. Three levels of mineral nutrition were studied: low N90P90K90, medium N120P120K120 and high N150P150K150. The object of research was the variety of eggplant Khalifa. The variety belongs to the medium-ripe group, forms fruits weighing up to 250 g of dark purple color. The shape of the fruit is elongated-cylindrical. Eggplant was grown through seedlings with a race of 45 days with drip irrigation with fertigation. In the main application, nitroammophoska was used in a dose of N60P60K60. During the growing season, complex water-soluble fertilizers Polyfid of various brands were used, which were applied through an injector. The harvest of fruits collected from the accounting plots was sorted, and the commercial fruits were stored in polymer boxes of 20 kg according to the experimental variants. Boxes of fruit were placed in a storage facility with unregulated conditions. Accounting of fruit preservation was carried out on the 7th and 14th day. The yield of commercial fruits, weight loss and losses from diseases were taken into account. According to the results of the research, it was found that regardless of the level of mineral nutrition on the 7th day in unregulated conditions, the yield of commercial fruits was high and decreased to the initial by 9.8–10%. The weight loss was 5.2–5.3%, and the losses from diseases amounted to 4.0–4.8%. When stored in unregulated conditions for 14 days, losses from diseases increased markedly, amounting to 15.8–20.4%. There was also a decrease in losses from diseases when laying for storage fruits obtained in experiments with a higher level of mineral nutrition.

Key words: eggplant, fertilizer, variety, persistence, unregulated conditions