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Article

Positive Changes in Fruit Quality, Leaf Antioxidant Defense System, and Soil Fertility of Beni-Madonna Tangor Citrus (Citrus nanko × C. amakusa) after Field AMF Inoculation

1
College of Horticulture and Gardening, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, China
2
Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Horticulturae 2023, 9(12), 1324; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9121324
Submission received: 24 November 2023 / Revised: 2 December 2023 / Accepted: 7 December 2023 / Published: 9 December 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes and Plant Stress Tolerance)

Abstract

Citrus plants rely heavily on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) due to their lack of root hairs. Most experiments have been conducted with AMF inoculation under potted conditions, while field inoculation of AMF on citrus, especially a high economic hybrid tangor variety Beni-Madonna (Citrus nanko × C. amakusa), has been rarely recorded. This study aimed to analyze the effects of two AMF inoculations (a single Funneliformis mosseae and a mixture of F. mosseae, Diversispora versiformis, and Rhizophagus intraradices) on the internal and external fruit quality, leaf antioxidant defense system, and soil fertility and structure of top-worked Beni-Madonna tangor citrus trees. Three and a half years after AMF inoculations, soil hyphal length and root mycorrhizal colonization rate increased by 61.2–101.8% and 15.85–29.6% in inoculated plants, respectively. Inoculated trees had higher external fruit coloration value, fruit horizontal diameter, and fruit weight, and lower fruit rigidity than uninoculated trees. AMF-inoculated trees had higher glucose levels of fruit peels, fructose and sucrose levels of fruit fleshes, and the ratio of fruit soluble solids/titratable acids, as well as lower titratable acids concentrations than non-AMF-inoculated trees. AMF inoculation significantly increased leaf nitrogen balance index, chlorophyll index, peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione reductase activities, as well as reduced glutathione and oxidized glutathione concentrations, resulting in lower hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde levels when compared to the uninoculated treatment. In addition, inoculated trees presented higher soil nutrient levels, including organic carbon, available K, and Olsen-P as, well as soil aggregate stability (based on mean weight diameter) than uninoculated trees. This study concluded that field AMF inoculation improved fruit quality, enhanced leaf antioxidant defense system, and improved soil fertility of Beni-Madonna trees, with mixed AMF being prominent in improving fruit quality and F. mosseae being prominent in enhancing leaf antioxidant defense system and improving soil fertility.
Keywords: antioxidase; citrus; fruit quality; mycorrhiza; reactive oxygen species; soil nutrient antioxidase; citrus; fruit quality; mycorrhiza; reactive oxygen species; soil nutrient

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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhou, L.-J.; Wang, Y.; Alqahtani, M.D.; Wu, Q.-S. Positive Changes in Fruit Quality, Leaf Antioxidant Defense System, and Soil Fertility of Beni-Madonna Tangor Citrus (Citrus nanko × C. amakusa) after Field AMF Inoculation. Horticulturae 2023, 9, 1324. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9121324

AMA Style

Zhou L-J, Wang Y, Alqahtani MD, Wu Q-S. Positive Changes in Fruit Quality, Leaf Antioxidant Defense System, and Soil Fertility of Beni-Madonna Tangor Citrus (Citrus nanko × C. amakusa) after Field AMF Inoculation. Horticulturae. 2023; 9(12):1324. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9121324

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhou, Li-Jun, Yu Wang, Mashael Daghash Alqahtani, and Qiang-Sheng Wu. 2023. "Positive Changes in Fruit Quality, Leaf Antioxidant Defense System, and Soil Fertility of Beni-Madonna Tangor Citrus (Citrus nanko × C. amakusa) after Field AMF Inoculation" Horticulturae 9, no. 12: 1324. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9121324

APA Style

Zhou, L.-J., Wang, Y., Alqahtani, M. D., & Wu, Q.-S. (2023). Positive Changes in Fruit Quality, Leaf Antioxidant Defense System, and Soil Fertility of Beni-Madonna Tangor Citrus (Citrus nanko × C. amakusa) after Field AMF Inoculation. Horticulturae, 9(12), 1324. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9121324

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