Effect of Calcium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate and Maleic Acid Spraying on the Qualitative Traits of Two Varieties of Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Abstract

Abstract Two different potato varieties, “Riviera” and “Argana”, were used in this study to evaluate the influence of foliar fertilization with calcium and magnesium at four concentrations (0% control, 0.5% and 1% calcium chloride, and 0.4% magnesium sulfate), as well as foliar spraying with malic acid at three concentrations (0, 250, and 500 mg L-1). The experiment was conducted in the vegetable field of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Design at the College of Agriculture and Forestry during the spring growing season of 2022. The study employed a complete randomized block design with three replications. The findings demonstrated that the two categories differed significantly. In comparison with “Argana”, “Riviera” showed a significant advantage both in soluble solids content and tuber hardness, at the same time “Argana” was significantly superior to “Riviera” in the total sugar content and tuber magnesium content. The treatment of foliar spraying with a high concentration of calcium chloride and magnesium sulphate a significant difference with the control in the Re – magnesium – percentage in tubers. Also, the application of 500 mg L-1 of malic acid as the treatment was better than the control concerning the percentage of calcium in the tubers. The treatment with 250 mg/L of malic acid did not differ significantly from the control, while the lower sugar content was preferred in the ‘Rivera’ cultivar without calcium and magnesium treatment and with the treatment of 500 mg/L of malic acid; however, the response was lower in the ‘Susina Precoce’ cultivar, with its best result obtained with the treatment of The highest tuber hardness was found in variety “Riviera” treated with 250 mg L-1 of malic acid while the lowest in variety “Argana” also treated with malic acid at the same concentration. The highest percentage of calcium in tubers was found in the “Rivera” variety treated with 500 mg L-1 malic acid, while the “Argana” variety treated with 250 mg malic acid and 0.5% calcium chloride obtained the lowest percentage. The highest magnesium content in tubers was observed in the “Argana” cultivar treated with 0.5% calcium and 500 mg/L malic acid, while the lowest was in the comparison treatment for both cultivars.