Yield and chemical components from the constitutive parts of olive (cv. Genovesa) fruits are barely affected by spring deficit irrigation

PIERANTOZZI, PIERLUIGI; TORRES,MARIELA; TIVANI, MARTIN; CONTRERAS CIBELES; GENTILI LUCIANA; MASTIO, VALERIO; PARERA, CARLOS; MAESTRI, DAMIAN

JOURNAL OF FOOD COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2021

0889-1575

An important concern for the expansion of olive production is related to the irrigation water availability. Thisstudy was driven on the hypothesis that regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) during spring - a period coveringbasically the fruit set, the seed development and the seed/pit hardening - does not affect significantly yield andchemical components from cv. Genovesa olive fruits. The objectives were twofold: a) to evaluate productiveresponses to RDI treatments, and b) to gain further information on the effect of irrigation on yield and chemicalcomponents from the constitutive parts of the olive fruit. To test the hypothesis, data of selected productive andquality parameters obtained from trees of three RDI treatments were tested and compared with those from fullirrigated trees. Results showed that over a 3-year period, water restriction had no effects on fruit pulp dry matteraccumulation. Neither were significant effects on oil accumulation and fatty acid composition from both oilbearing tissues (pulp and seed). Both tocopherols and total phenols (TP) from pulp were unchanged amongRDI. Conversely, significant and opposite tendencies were noted for these parameters from the seeds: deficitirrigation caused lower amounts of α-tocopherol but higher TP than the full-irrigated treatment. Overall, resultsindicate that spring water restriction can save a significant amount of irrigation water with minor impact onimportant productive and quality parameters.