Influence of Growth Regulators and Micronutrients on Fruit Quality and Physiological Attributes of Tomato
Parthana Dihingia
Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Ira Sarma *
Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Sailen Gogoi
Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Prakash Kalita
Department of Plant Physiology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Gayatri Goswami Kandali
Department of Soil Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Parinita Das
Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Arpan Lahon
Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Aparna Tripathy
Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Ranjeet Kumar
Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Tomato fruit quality and plant physiological performance can be influenced by plant growth regulators and micronutrient nutrition. A field investigation was carried out at the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, during the rabi season of 2024-25 to evaluate the effects of growth regulators and micronutrients on fruit quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and plant physiology. The ‘Kashi Aman’ variety was used in the experiment, which was laid out in a Randomised Block Design (RBD) comprising twelve treatments, each replicated three times. The treatments included T1: Borax @ 0.2%, T2: Zinc Sulphate @ 0.5%, T3: micronutrient mixture @ 0.5%, T4: NAA-50 ppm, T5: NAA-50 ppm + Borax @ 0.2%, T6: NAA-50 ppm + Zinc Sulphate @ 0.5%, T7: NAA-50 ppm + micronutrient mixture @ 0.5%, T8: GA3 -50 ppm, T9: GA3 -50 ppm + Borax @ 0.2%, T10: GA3 -50 ppm + Zinc Sulphate @ 0.5%, T11: GA3 -50 ppm + micronutrient mixture @ 0.5%, and T12: untreated control. Fruit quality parameters were recorded at harvest, with the lowest titratable acidity (0.40%) observed in T11, while the highest moisture content (96.15%) and juice pH (4.41) were observed in T3 and T2, respectively. The maximum total soluble solids (5.40 °Brix), ascorbic acid content (45.91 mg/100 g), lycopene content (5.55 mg/100 g), and shelf life (15.33 days) were recorded in T11. Regarding physiological traits, the highest values of chlorophyll a (0.562 mg/g), chlorophyll b (0.291 mg/g), and total chlorophyll content (0.792 mg/g) were observed in T11, along with the highest accumulation of plant biomass at 50 DAP (80.82 g) and at harvest (306.97 g).
Keywords: Tomato, plant growth regulators, micronutrients, gibberellic acid, naphthalene acetic acid, fruit quality, chlorophyll, plant biomass, lycopene, shelf life