Plant growth, yield, fruit quality and residual biomass composition of tomato as affected by mulch type

This research was carried out to assess the effects of biodegradable mulching films on fruit yield and quality performances of greenhouse grown tomato, in southern Italy. Four mulching treatments (two MaterBi biodegradable black films, MB N2/12 and MB N8, having 15 and 12 mu m thickness respectively; black polyethylene film, LDPE, 50 mu m thick; non-mulched control) were compared using a randomized complete block design with three replicates. LDPE resulted in higher harvest precocity than non-mulched control. The biodegradable MB N8 and the plastic LDPE films led to the highest fruit yield, total crop biomass and leaf area index, whereas the non-mulched control had the lowest values in terms of overall performances. Fruit dry matter and soluble solids were the highest under the biodegradable films MB N2/12 and MB N8, and the lowest in the control. Titratable acidity and color component "a" were the highest under MB N8 and the lowest in the control. Fruits of MB N8 and LDPE attained the highest levels of color components "L" and "b" respectively, the biodegradable mulch MB N8 also led to the highest fruit firmness. The highest antioxidant concentrations and activities were obtained from the biodegradable films. Biodegradable mulch films MB N2/12 and MB N8 proved to be as effective as the plastic film in terms of tomato yield, but the positive effect on fruit quality and antioxidant content as well as the environmentally friendly features of those films also increase their importance.