PHYSICOCHEMICAL QUALITY OF FRUITS OF WEST INDIAN CHERRY UNDER SALINE WATER IRRIGATION AND PHOSPHATE FERTILIZATION

In the semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil due to the qualitative and quantitative scarcity of water resources, the use of saline water should be considered as an alternative to expand irrigated agriculture. However, the use of waters with high levels of salts depends on management practices that minimize deleterious effects on plants. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of irrigation with water of increasing salinity and fertilization with phosphorus on the postharvest physicochemical composition of fresh fruits of West Indian cherry, cv. ‘BRS 366 Jaburu’. The research was carried out in a protected environment, in lysimeters with Neossolo Regolítico Psamitico Típico (Entisol) of clay loam texture, using a randomized block design, in a 5x2 factorial scheme with three replicates and one plant per plot, relative to five levels of irrigation water electrical conductivity (0.6; 1.4; 2.2; 3.0 and 3.8 dS m-1) and two phosphorus doses [100 and 140% of the recommendation of Musser. Increase in water salinity reduced fruit size and fresh mass formation, but increased soluble solids contents and titratable acidity in the pulp of West Indian cherry fruits. Phosphate fertilization, regardless of dose, stimulated the formation of fresh mass of West Indian cherry fruits. Water salinity inhibited the formation of ascorbic acid in West Indian cherry fruits, and the highest value was observed in plants irrigated with 0.6 dS m-1 water and fertilized with a dose of 100% of the recommendation of P2O5.