Influência de nano-óxido de zinco e bioinoculantes sobre a qualidade pós-colheita de pimentão e berinjela cultivados sob déficit hídrico.

Abstract

Agricultural systems in the semi-arid region of Brazil have difficulty expressing and reaching their maximum productive potential due to local climatic factors, such as high temperatures and low rainfall, which cause prolonged droughts. The need to expand agricultural production areas highlights the need for technologies that enable the use of water and the use of biological products in irrigation, including the cultivation of eggplant and peppers. The aim of this project is to investigate the influence of nanoparticles containing the micronutrient zinc, associated with plant growth-promoting bacteria, on the post-harvest quality of eggplant and peppers subjected to water stress. The experiment was set up in plots subdivided in space, where the plots comprised two irrigation rates (50 and 100% of potential evapotranspiration -Eto) and the subplots five treatments that combined zinc oxide nanoparticles (NZnO) or bioinoculants (Bio), which contained beneficial bacteria (T1 = control, T2 = ZnSO₄ via foliar, T3 = NPZnO via foliar, T4 = NPZnO via foliar + Bio, T5 = ZnSO₄ via soil + Bio), with four blocks. Commercial and non-commercial fruit weight, commercial and non-commercial fruit, transverse diameter and longitudinal length, skin color, firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids, SS/AT ratio, vitamin C and total soluble sugars were evaluated. On average, treatment T2 (ZnSO₄ via foliar irrigation) increased the Hue angle when the plants were subjected to water deficit with 100% Eto. Chromaticity, luminosity and vitamin C showed a higher average when the plants were subjected to water deficit under full irrigation. Commercial weight, commercial fruit, SS/AT ratio, total soluble sugars, titratable acidity, luminosity and vitamin C had a strong positive correlation in treatments containing zinc sulphate, nano zinc oxides (NPZnO) and plant growth promoting bacteria (BPCP). The treatments containing ZnSO₄, NPZnO and BPCP did not mitigate the water deficit imposed on the eggplant. Treatment T3 (leaf NPZnO) had a transverse diameter that was little affected by water deficit, treatments containing zinc sulphate, nano zinc oxides (NPZnO) and plant growth promoting bacteria (BPCP). Vitamin C and chromaticity had a strong positive correlation in the irrigation deficit. The treatments containing ZnSO₄, NPZnO and BPCP did not mitigate the water deficit imposed on the peppers.