Preharvest Foliar Spray of Calcium Chloride on Growth, Yield, Quality, and Shelf Life Extension of Different Lowland Tomato Varieties in Malaysia

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In all results after not significantly the authors should put (p>0.05). if it significant put (p<0.05).

Conclusion 

The authors should erase Lines 637-639 (The present........303, 105).   Line 640 after not significant the authors should put (p>0.05), line 644 significant (p<0.05) and line 648 not significant (p>0.05). 

 

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

See my comments marked in the attached file.

A general comment: many times the description of the results does not adhere to the results presented in tables.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Please pay attention to my remarks and correct the mistakes in the attached file

a. In many cases you state a suggestion as a real fact please refrain from doing so. It is very misleading (even though it make sense). I marked few places but maybe missed few more.

b. I suggest to move Table 1 and 2 to suplementary and just writ e the results. Tables 3, 4 and 5  change to graphs (few already exist. Move table to supplementary.

c. good luck

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 4 Report

In the submitted manuscript by Azizah Misran and colleagues entitled “Preharvest foliar spray of calcium chloride on growth, yield, quality, and shelf life extension of different low land tomato varieties in Malaysia”, the authors examined the effect of preharvest treatments of CaCl2 on the growth, yield, quality, and shelf-life performance of tomato varieties. They used four tomato varieties and four doses of CaCl2. The authors found that 2% CaCl2 on immature fruits could regulate physiological disorders like blossom end rot, extending the postharvest longevity mainly through increasing the firmness of tomatoes fruits. Overall, the manuscript is not well-written, and generally, the data do not have a good presentation and the statical analysis is not so clear. However, the aim and scope of the Horticulturae journal are in line with the current manuscript after major revision. Some issues in the text should be carefully addressed.

Major and minor comments,

• Please, replace the keyword ‘and variety’ with any other keyword (line 28).
• In the introduction section (lines 30-38) the authors forgot to remove the instructions. Please, remove it.
• In the introduction section (lines 53-69) the authors should also mention why calcium chloride is used via foliar spray in other fruits and what happens in other fruits considering physiological disorders. I suggest using the references below to support your introduction; 1. Michailidis, M., Karagiannis, E., Tanou, G., et al. (2020) Novel insights into the calcium action in cherry fruit development revealed by high-throughput mapping. Plant Mol. Biol. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-020-01063-2.   Michailidis, M., Polychroniadou, C., Kosmidou, M.A., Petraki-Katsoulaki, D., Karagiannis, E., Molassiotis, A. and Tanou, G. (2021) An early calcium loading during cherry tree dormancy improves fruit quality features at harvest. Horticulturae, 7. And 3. Michailidis, M., Karagiannis, E., Tanou, G., Karamanoli, K., Lazaridou, A., Matsi, T. and Molassiotis, A. (2017) Metabolomic and physico-chemical approach unravel dynamic regulation of calcium in sweet cherry fruit physiology. Plant Physiol. Biochem., 116, 68–79. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.05.005.
• In the introduction section lines 74-78. Why these varieties should be tested to find out the appropriate dose of CaCl₂, does it something cultivated in general in Malaysia?
• One major concern about the publication of this work is the lack of Ca content in the tomato fruit tissues. The authors should provide data about calcium concentration in tomato fruits.
• Another issue is the use of CaCl₂. Because CaCl₂ is mostly insoluble to the water we use this formulation CaCl₂ * 2H₂ Please the authors determine if they use CaCl₂ or something else.
• Table 2. LSD is not accurate (0.01 for Blossom End Rot Symptoms on Fruit (%)), or everything is significant. The authors should calculate LSD again.
• In figure 1. The authors should remove the numbers of the CaCl2 figures and add letters (I think that all are 'a'). You should choose tables or figures. Certainly, not both.
• The references missing in lines 447, 469, 487, 502, 572, 584, 603,
• In figure 2. The authors should add letters to show significant differences among bars.
• In the figures. The authors should follow one pattern in the figures. For example, same bars color, size, SEM vertical bars, and letters.
• In figure 4. Why do the authors suddenly use V1, V2, etc, instead of variety names (MT-1, MT-3)? Please remove V1, V2, and so on.
• Once again. The authors should choose tables or figures but not both. The extra data can display in Supplementary Figures or Supplementary tables.
• In line 611 ‘Figure 3.6’ it is obviously wrong. Please correct it.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 5 Report

Reviewed manuscript entitled “Preharvest foliar spray of calcium chloride on growth, yield, quality, and shelf life extension of different low land tomato varieties in Malaysia” is a very interesting, original research study and after revision may be published in the journal.

 

Following are the detailed suggestion for the Authors:

 

In Keywords „and” should be remove

Line 30-38 – you should remove sentences from the first paragraph starting with „The introduction should briefly…

The characteristics of the four tomato varieties, in particular the morphological features, susceptibility to disease and fruit characteristics, must be provided.

The conditions for growing in the greenhouse should be specified: photoperiod, day / night temperature, light intensity "

The medium for germination was peat moss and bio-soil (3:1) –the pH, nutrient content should be provided.

Coco peat - the characteristics should be provided - pH, producer.

line  95, in this sentence: „containing sufficient numbers of holes for the drainage purpose” - "sufficient" should be explained - that is, how many holes are in bag.

Whether fertilizers were applied during the growing period, please indicate the dose.

Type of sprayer (producer), amount of spray liquid per m², sprayer tips, operating pressure. should be provided.

line 107,  „ready to harvest” – in what phase the fruit was harvested; please provide the time period when the harvest was made (day, month).

When the morphological features, yield and quality parameters were measured (time range - day month).

How many repetitions were for determination of individual quality parameters

Was a one-way or two-way analysis of variance performer.

Was the normal distribution of the data examined.

Please provide the standard deviation in the tables and figures.

line 319-321, In the sentence „However, it was reported that the CaCl2 increases…” there is a statement that the application of CaCl₂ simultaneously increases and reduces the weight of the fruit - please correct

Beside the names of pests and diseases, the Latin name of the pest and the pathogen should be given

line 447, 469, 487, 502, 572, 584, 604,  please correct „(Error! Reference source not found.)”

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 4 Report

Calcium content in fruit tissue is major issue. In my opinion, calcium content should be determined by the authors in each variety before and after any treatment in order to publish in the Horticulture journal. However, this is an editor's decision. 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 5 Report

After reviewing the final version of the manuscript I see that the authors have put a lot of effort into improving the manuscript. In my opinion, this manuscript is an interesting study and I recommend publishing it in the Horticulturae.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx