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Quick Recovery of Leaf Photosynthesis and Fruit Quality from Soil Water Deficit of Citrus aurantiifolia Growing in a City |
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| รหัสดีโอไอ | |
| Creator | Pantana Tor-ngern, Vijittar Jan-uthai, Nisa Leksungnoen |
| Title | Quick Recovery of Leaf Photosynthesis and Fruit Quality from Soil Water Deficit of Citrus aurantiifolia Growing in a City |
| Publisher | The Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment |
| Publication Year | 2561 |
| Journal Title | EnvironmentAsia |
| Journal Vol. | 11 |
| Journal No. | 1 |
| Page no. | 87-99 |
| Keyword | Citrus aurantiifolia, net photosynthesis, water-use efficiency, vitamin C, water deficit |
| ISSN | 2586-8861 |
| Abstract | Under the projected warming climate, water scarcity will become one of the main challenges for growing crops. Such issue is particularly difficult in urban environments where growing conditions for plants are limited and warming effect is intensified. Here, we showed that infrequent irrigation may be performed when growing lime (Citrus aurantiifolia) saplings in Bangkok, Thailand, with quick recovery of photosynthesis and fruit quality. During a two-week water-deficit experiment, stomatal conductance of the lime saplings decreased up to 67% when soil moisture declined by 40% from the control level on day 6, resulting in 27% and 16% reductions of net photosynthesis (Anet) and transpiration (E), respectively. Accordingly, water-use efficiency decreased by 20%. After that, irrigation was resumed to study the recovery effect on the gas exchange parameters. Results showed full recovery after 3 days with Anet, E and WUE values not statistically different from those in the control group. Lime fruits were harvested for analysis of vitamin C content. We found that, after the water deficit and re-watering, vitamin C content in the lime fruits was not affected, showing similar values across treatments. Our results suggested that discontinuous irrigation (i.e. up to 6 days of withheld irrigation) may be applied to induce moderate soil water deficit (-40% of the control level) when growing the lime saplings in a raised-bed plot in the city, without affecting photosynthesis and fruit quality. This finding offers an approach for sustainable urban agriculture in the future drying environments. |
