Abstract
The present study aimed to explore the mechanisms and soil properties of eggplant production and quality, as well as the bacterial community structure, soil physico-chemical properties, eggplant growth properties, and nutrient contents. A field experiment was performed in a seasonal crop of eggplants irrigated with magnetized water (MW) and nonmagnetized water (NMW). A magnetic field was used for water treatment in the MW groups. The soil nutrient contents as well as soil enzyme activities were significantly increased in the MW treatment compared with those in the NMW treatment. After irrigation with MW, the abundance of Proteobacteria in the soil significantly increased, while that of Firmicutes decreased in comparison with the NMW treatment. The bacterial diversity indexes operational taxonomic unit (OTU), Chao1 and ACE revealed increases of 3~24%. Additionally, the MW treatment increased the length, width, and fresh weight of the eggplant leaves by 17~29%, while the fruit length and width and the single fruit weight increased by 5~16%. The contents of vitamin C and organic acids in eggplant fruit in the MW treatment markedly increased by 25~34% compared with those in the NMW treatment. Likewise, the contents of mineral elements in the treated eggplants exhibited marked increases compared with the levels in the NMW treatment. Irrigation with MW had the potential to improve soil quality and change the community structure of the bacteria. Moreover, irrigation with MW could improve eggplant growth and output, hence promoting fruit quality. These results could provide a theoretical basis for the application of magnetics for improving crop production.
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The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Agricultural Science and Technology Fund of Shandong Province (Innovation of Forestry Science and Technology, 2019LY004). The authors are also grateful to the Agricultural Major Application Technology Innovation Program of Shandong Province (Financial and Agricultural Indicators, 2016, No. 36) and the National Program of the International Introduction of Advanced Science and Technology in Forestry of China (948 Program, Grant No. 2011-4-60) for their support.
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Haoran Cui and Xiumei Liu performed the experiment; Haoran Cui and Fengyun Ma contributed significantly to analysis and manuscript preparation; Haoran Cui and Xiumei Liu performed the data analyses and wrote the manuscript; Haoran Cui, Xiumei Liu, Ruyan Jing, Mingzhong Zhang, Lu Wang, Li Zheng, Linggang Kong, Huatian Wang, and Fengyun Ma helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions. Haoran Cui and Xiumei Liu share the first authorship.
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Cui, ., Liu, X., Jing, R. et al. Irrigation with Magnetized Water Affects the Soil Microenvironment and Fruit Quality of Eggplants in a Covered Vegetable Production System in Shouguang City, China. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 20, 2684–2697 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00334-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00334-7