Humus contribution to the production and post-harvest quality of mini watermelon cultivars

The demand for quality fruit has driven producers to look for cultivars that are attractive to consumers. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of humus application on production and postharvest characteristics of fruits of mini watermelon cultivars. The experiment was carried out in a randomized blocks, in a factorial scheme 4 x 2, with five replicates. The treatments consisted of four mini watermelon cultivars (Champagne, E-48, Fancy and Serenade) cultivated with the application or not of humus associated with fertigation. The physical characteristics and post-harvest quality of the mini watermelon fruits were analyzed. Humus improved the morphological characteristics of the fruit, except for pulp yield and fruit shape index. The humus increased by 46.85, 22.10, 22.03 and 26.92%, respectively, the shoot dry mass and the fresh masses of fruit, pulp and rind, compared to plants grown without humus addition. Among the cultivars, the shoot dry mass of Serenade was 20.79% higher than the mean of Champagne and E-48 cultivars, which did not differ from each other. The highest pulp yields were obtained in Champagne and E-48 cultivars, while Fancy and E-48 showed the highest levels of total soluble solids. The addition of humus did not affect the sugar content in the studied cultivars, with an average of 10.9 degrees Brix and a maturity index of 48.65%. Thus, the presence of humus in the substrate improves the morphological characteristics of the fruits without affecting the total soluble solids content.