Effect of different selenium fertilizer concentrations on pear yield and quality

Excessive and deficit foliar fertilization adversely affects pear fruit yield and its qualitative characteristics. In the present study, we investigated the impact of higher to a lower foliar spray of amino acid selenium fertilizer concentrations on the Huangtukan pear variety. Foliar fertilizer treatments were 50.0 mg plant–1, 60.0 mg plant–1, 75.0 mg plant–1, 100 mg plant–1, 150.0 mg plant–1 and 0.0 mg plant–1(Control check, CK), which were sprayed on the interval of every 15 days since the full-bloom period (8 times in total) and stopped before the maturity stage. The results demonstrated that the pear's yield, quality, and absorption of nutrient elements first increased and then decreased with the increase of the selenium fertilizer concentration. In contrast, the absorption of the selenium was constantly increasing. When the mass concentration of the selenium fertilizer was 75 mg plant–1, the pear yield, the soluble solids, and the vitamin-C content increased by 19.07%, 21.69%, and 85.2%, respectively, and titratable acid content decreased by 52.45%; content of major elements such as phosphorus and potassium increased by 42.48% and 89.18% respectively; sodium, magnesium, and sulfur increased by 191.53%, 78.68%, and 157.84% respectively; trace elements including selenium, boron, manganese, zinc, iron, and copper increased by 52.39%, 179.02%, 72.11%, 26.8%, 100.33%, and 55.94% respectively. Thus, based on the comprehensive analysis of different yield and quality attributes, it is concluded that the optimum foliar spraying mass concentration of the selenium fertilizer for the Huangtukan pear is 75 mg plant–1. (author)