赤字灌溉和新兴水果作物作为地中海半干旱农用系统节水的战略

Article history:

Received 16 May 2017

Received in revised form 31 July 2017 Accepted 15 August 2017

Available online 6 September 2017

Keywords:

Jujube Loquat

Partial root drying Pistachio Pomegranate

Regulated deficit irrigation Sustained deficit irrigation Underutilized crops

Water stress Water relations

Water scarcity in Mediterranean climate areas will be progressively aggravated by climate change, popu- lation increase and urban, tourism and industrial activities. To protect water resources and their integrity for future use and to improve biodiversity, besides following advanced deficit irrigation strategies in fruit cultivation, attention could well be directed towards what are at present underused plant materials able to withstand deficit irrigation with minimum impact on yield and fruit quality. To this end, the state of the art as regards deficit irrigation strategies and the response of some very interesting emerging fruit crops [jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill.), loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.), pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) and pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)] are reviewed. The strengths and weaknesses of deficit irrigation strategies and the mechanisms developed by these emerging fruit crops in the face of water stress are discussed. The response of these crops to deficit irrigation, with special attention paid to the effect on yield but also on fruit quality and health-related chemical compounds, was analysed in order to assess their suitability for saving water in Mediterranean semiarid agrosystems and to analyze their potential role as alternatives to currently cultivated fruit crops with higher water requirements. Finally, the fac- tors involved in establishing an identity brand (hydroSOS) to protect fruits obtained under specific DI conditions are discussed.

© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction

Mediterranean climate countries include not only those that border the Mediterranean Sea (from Spain to Turkey and Cyprus and from Morocco to Syria) but also other regions of the planet, including Southern California, Chile, South Africa and Southern

∗ Corresponding author.

E-mail address: agalindoegea@gmail.com (A. Galindo).

1 These authors contributed equally to this work.

2 These authors contributed equally to this work.

Australia. All are characterized by hot dry summers, mostly rainy winters and partially wet spring and autumn. In these region, to ensure regular crop yields and for to reduce inter-annual yield vari- ability, the scarce rainfall has to be supplemented by irrigation in order to avoid plant water deficits. Indeed, water scarcity in these sites is destined to gradually become worse because more frequent and severe droughts events driven by climate change (Collins et al., 2009). Moreover, as the population increases, leading to an increas- ing expansion of urban, touristic and industrial activities, tension and conflict between water users and pressures on the environment will be intensified.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2017.08.015

0378-3774/© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Consequently, and considering that Mediterranean agrosystems are very important consumers of fresh water, it is of paramount importance to protect water resources and their integrity for future use (Katerji et al., 2008). In this sense, to overcome the problems associated to a boost in water prices, as the discouragement of farm- ers and ultimately land abandonment, García-Tejero et al. (2014) indicated that an alternative could be to provide correct incentives for farmers to adopt changes in their irrigation methods by imple- menting strategies and tools for sustainable water saving. Among the strategies that can be applied to attain water saving are the use of improved, innovative and precise deficit irrigation (DI) man- agement practices able to minimize the impact on crop yield and quality (Fernandez and Torrecillas, 2012). In addition, in order to contribute to water saving, fruit culture should be directed towards the use of plant materials that are less water-demanding or able to withstand deficit irrigation with minimum impact on yield and fruit quality.

In this last respect, it is important to consider that in human history, 40–100,000 plant species have been regularly used for food, fiber and for industrial, cultural and medicinal purposes. Today, at least 7000 cultivated species are in use around the world. However, in recent centuries, agricultural systems have promoted the cultivation of a very limited number of crop species. While these have been the focus of attention of commerce and scientific research world-wide, many crops have been relegated to the sta- tus of neglected or underutilized crop species, and largely ignored (Padulosi et al., 2001; Chivenge et al., 2015). In addition, this reduction in the number of crop species used for food production throughout the world has a direct effect on biodiversity, which is fundamental for ecosystem functioning, sustainable agricultural production and the attainment of food and nutritional security (Toledo and Burlingame, 2006; Chappell and LaValle, 2011). There- fore, to improve not only biodiversity but also to saving water and hence protecting the integrity of water resources for the future, it is necessary the diversification of production and consumption habits, including the use of a broader range of plant species, in par- ticular those currently identified as underutilized and needing a low input of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and water. This option has to be compatible with the consolidation of the cultivation of other Mediterranean traditional crops, such as olive, almond or grapevine, which are low water demanding and profitable crops. In this sense, in some countries, during recent decades there has been a certain interest in diversifying fruit tree production by cultivat- ing species with under-exploited potential. Among these emerging crops many are characterized by their attractive fruits and health- related qualities, so that they may attract consumer attention and contribute to producer profitability

For these reasons, the aim of this review was to present the state of the art of deficit irrigation strategies and the response to them of some very interesting emerging fruit crops [jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill.), loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.), pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) and pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)]. To this end, the follow- ing aspects were considered: (i) the strengths and weaknesses of deficit irrigation strategies, (ii) the mechanisms developed by these emerging fruit crops to confront water stress, and (iii) the response of these crops to deficit irrigation, paying special attention not only to the effect on yield but also to the effect on fruit quality and health-related chemical compounds.

2. Deftcit irrigation. Concepts and strategies

To cope with water scarcity, Mediterranean agrosystems are increasingly looking to more efficient technological innovation and irrigation management approaches. In this respect, many coun- tries have shifted from irrigating crops in order to satisfy their

evapotranspiration requirements (ETc) or full irrigation (FI), the conventional norm which seeks to maximize crop yield per unit of land, to deficit irrigation (DI) strategies, which involve reducing the amount of water provided to the crop during the growing season by the soil moisture stock, rainfall and irrigation to a level below that needed for maximum plant growth. In most of cases DI induces a gradual water deficit, due depletion of soil water reserves, accom- panied by a reduction in harvestable yields, especially in soils with a significantly low water storage capacity.

When water scarcity is the consequence of uncontrolled fac- tors and water supply is not guaranteed, farmers find it difficult to schedule any reasonable DI strategy. In contrast, if growers have a guaranteed water supply for their crops during the growing season, it is possible to improve water productivity (WP) by drawing up DI strategies based on scientific principles, attempting to produce near-maximum yields even if crops are provided with less water than they would otherwise use (maintaining crop consumptive use below its potential rate). In other words, improving the marketable yield per unit of water used rather than attaining maximum yields (Kijne et al., 2003; Zhang, 2003) Complementary advantages of the same include a reduction of nutrient loss from the root zone and a decrease in excessive vegetative vigour, accompanied by a lower risk of crop diseases linked to high humidity (Goodwin and Boland, 2002; Ünlü et al., 2006) (Table 1). However, there is a shortage of research into the risk of soil salinization as a consequence of any decrease in the leaching of salts and the use of low quality irrigation water (Boland et al., 1996; Kaman et al., 2006) (Table 2).

Three main DI strategies can be mentioned; sustained deficit irrigation (SDI), in which irrigation water used at any moment dur- ing the season is below the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) demand, and two others, both based on physiological aspects of the response of plants to water deficit regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial root-zone drying (PRD) (Fig. 1).

2.1. Sustained deficit irrigation (SDI)

At the end of 1970s, trials applying irrigation water amounts below the ETc demand but at very frequent intervals took place with encouraging results. Called deficit high-frequency irrigation (DHFI), this strategy proved unsuccessful when little water was stored in the soil. It was only possible to use DHFI and obtain max- imum yields when ETc was reached through the combination of irrigation water applied and soil water depletion (Fereres et al., 1978).

In fact, the DHFI strategy is very similar to SDI (Fig. 1), which is based on the idea of allotting the water deficit uniformly over the whole fruit season, thus avoiding the occurrence of serious plant water deficit at any crop stage that might affect marketable yield or fruit quality, or distributing the irrigation water proportionally to irrigation requirements throughout the season.

2.2. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI)

RDI works on the premise that transpiration is more sensitive to water deficit than photosynthesis and fruit growth, and water deficit-induced root-sourced chemical signals like ABA. Thus, fruit trees cope with a reduced water supply by reducing transpiration (stomata regulation or reducing leaf surface area through reduc- ing leaf growth) (Wilkinson and Hartung, 2009). In this sense, fruit tree sensitivity to water deficit is not constant during the whole growing season, and a water deficit during particular periods may benefit WP by increasing irrigation water savings, minimiz- ing or eliminating negative impacts on yield and crop revenue and even improving harvest quality (Chalmers et al., 1981; McCarthy et al., 2002; Domingo et al., 1996) (Table 1). Therefore, when a RDI strategy is applied, full irrigation is supplied during the drought-

Table 1

Key advantages of deficit irrigation (DI) strategies: sustained deficit irrigation (SDI), regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial root drying (PRD) with a non-exhaustive list of references.

DI strategy Advantage References

Maximize the water use efficiency and water productivity (WP) Liu et al. (2006a); Liu et al. (2006b); Saeed et al.

SDI, RDI and PRD

Minimum impacts on yields can be achieved when precision tools are used to manage mild DI

Reduces nutrient loss from the root zone, improving ground water quality and lowering fertilizer needs on the field.

(2008); Geerts and Raes (2009); Ahmadi et al. (2010).

García-Orellana et al. (2007); Ortun˜o et al. (2009)

Ünlü et al. (2006) ; Goodwin and Boland (2002)

RDI

PRD

Decrease the risk of crop diseases linked to high humidity Goodwin and Boland (2002);

Improves water savings and even harvest quality Chalmers et al. (1981); McCarthy et al. (2002)

Reduces excessive vegetative vigour Goodwin and Boland (2002).

Can be scheduled using only trunk diameter sensors Conejero et al. (2011); Girón et al. (2015).

It can be operated in furrow or drip-irrigated crops Grimes et al. (1968); Samadi and Sepaskhah (1984).

Despite a reduction in stomatal conductance, crops maintain a favourable water status

The quantity and quality of the harvest can be improved as a consequence of carbohydrates partitioning between the different plant organs

Santos et al. (2003); Kang and Zhang (2004) Kang and Zhang (2004)

Table 2

Key constraints of deficit irrigation (DI) strategies: sustained deficit irrigation (SDI), regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial root drying (PRD) with a non-exhaustive list of references.

DI strategy Constraint References

SDI, RDI and PRD

At all times it is essential to access to a minimum quantity of water, below which DI has no significant beneficial effect

Shortage of research on soil salinization risks as a consequence of the decrease of leaching of salts and the use of low quality irrigation water.

Crops sustain some degree of water deficit and some yield reduction except when soil water depletion supplements irrigation to reaching ETc

Zhang (2003)

Fereres et al. (1978); Costa et al. (2007)

SDI Yield decrease is due mainly to decrease in fruit weight Castel and Buj (1990)

RDI

The maintenance of plant water status within narrow limits of water deficit during non-critical phenological periods. Sudden change in evaporative demand risks severe losses of yield and fruit quality

New and more precise criteria for defining water deficit are needed, because criteria based on ETc can have unpredictable final effect on the rhythm of water deficit development across a range of different growing conditions (species, weather, soil depth, fruit load, rootstock).

Irrigation management in heavy and deep soils because soil water depletion and refill can take place too slowly

Scarcity of detailed studies to know the effect of water deficit on bud development

Jones (2004)

Shackel et al. (1997); Marsal et al. (2008)

Girona et al. (1993)

Naor et al. (2005); Marsal et al. (2008)

Do not exist definite solid criteria on defining the optimum timing of irrigation for each root system side

It is not possible to have absolute control of root drying under field conditions and hydraulic redistribution from deeper to shallower roots may prevent the clear results that can be obtained in potted plants

Saeed et al. (2008) Bravdo (2005)

sensitive phenological stages (critical periods) of fruit trees and irrigation is limited or even unnecessary if rainfall provides a min- imum supply of water during the drought-tolerant phenological stages (non-critical periods) (Chalmers et al., 1981; Mitchell and Chalmers, 1982; Geerts and Raes, 2009) (Fig. 1).

Stone fruit growth follows a double-sigmoidal pattern with two periods of rapid growth separated by a period during which little or no expansive growth occurs. The first growth period, stage I, is due to cell division and cell expansion; stage II is the period in which sclerification of the fruit endocarp takes place and fruit growth is extremely slow or null, and stage III is the second period of fruit growth, which is rapid due to the expansion of existing cells and extends from the onset of this second growth period until matu- rity. Pome and Citrus fruits show only a phase of rapid fruit growth (single-sigmoidal pattern), which takes place after the initial period of cell division and minimal expansion, and is due mainly to a cell expansion process even though some cell division may also take place at the beginning (Rodríguez et al., 2017).

In stone fruit trees, two critical periods have been identified. The first one corresponds to the second rapid fruit growth period (stage III), when drought stress induces a reduction in yield due to the smaller fruit size at harvest, and the second critical period is the early postharvest period, when drought stress affects flower bud induction and/or the floral differentiation processes that occur at this time. This leads to a lower germination potential in the pollen of the next bloom and encourages young fruit to drop in the follow- ing season (Uriu, 1964; Ruiz-Sánchez et al., 1999; Torrecillas et al., 2000). In other Prunus species, such as almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.)

D.A. Webb), flowering and rapid vegetative and fruit growth stages (stages II and III) and postharvest (stage V) have been reported as critical periods because water deficit affects yield (Goldhamer and Smith, 1995; Goldhamer and Viveros, 2000; García-Tejero et al., 2017).

In pome and Citrus fruits rapid fruit growth can be considered as a common critical period. In an experiment in Fino lemon (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. fil.) trees over four seasons, Domingo et al., (1996) showed that the main critical period corresponds to the rapid fruit

Fig. 1. Graphic pattern of full irrigation (FI), sustained deficit irrigation (SDI), regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial root drying (PRD) strategies in fruit trees.

growth phase, when water deficit causes a delay in attaining mar- ketable fruit size, whereas moderate water deficit applied during flowering-fruit set-fruit cell division period is not critical in terms of yield. In fact, the effect of water deficit applied during this last phenological period on yield is related not only with the water deficit level achieved but also with the plant species. In Salustiana orange trees (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) on sour orange rootstock (Citrus aurantium L.), Castel and Buj (1990) attained a decrease in yield of only 4%, whereas Ginestar and Castel (1996) observed that Clementina de Nules (Citrus clementina Hort ex Tan) on Car- rizo citrange (Citrus sinensis Osb. Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.) were extremely sensitive to water restrictions (yield decrease) during this period.

In very early maturing fruit trees, with a very short period from fruit set to harvest and a very long post-harvest phenological period, deficit irrigation should be applied only during the post- harvest period even though avoiding affect bud induction and floral differentiation processes (Torrecillas et al., 2000; Conejero et al., 2011).

Taking into consideration that the effects of water deficit depend not only on the timing but also on the duration and magnitude of the same, the plant water status during non-critical periods has to be maintained within certain levels of water deficit in order to prevent a moderate, potentially beneficial, drought stress from becoming too severe and ending in reduced yield (Table 2) (Johnson et al., 1992; Kang and Zhang, 2004). In this sense, problems have been found in maintaining a certain level of plant water deficit because, when low amounts of irrigation water are applied, adverse sit- uations such as a sudden increase in temperature may result in severe losses of yield and quality, (Table 2) (Jones, 2004). Other problems have been found when applying RDI in heavy and deep soils because soil water depletion and refill frequently take too long (Table 2) (Girona et al., 1993). Under this situation, the success of RDI depends strongly on the appropriate use of microirrigation techniques and sensors able to provide real time information on soil and plant water status (Dichio et al., 2007; Ortun˜o et al., 2009). In recent years, the use of plant-based water status indicators has become very popular for planning more precise irrigation pro- grammes, because it is recognized that the tree itself is the best indicator of its water status (Table 1) (Shackel et al., 1997; García-

Orellana et al., 2007; Fernandez and Cuevas, 2010). In this sense, sensors like linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs) are able to measure daily trunk diameter fluctuations (TDF) with great precision, generating sensitive parameters which strongly corre- late with established plant water status parameters (Fernandez and Cuevas, 2010; Ortun˜o et al., 2010). The most common and use- ful TDF parameters for the irrigation scheduling of woody crops are maximum daily trunk shrinkage (MDS) and trunk growth rate (TGR) (Ortun˜o et al., 2010; Moriana et al., 2013). Moreover, the operational advantages of TDF measurements in adult trees, such as the possibility of connecting remotely operated irrigation automatic devices, and the ability to rapidly adjust schedules in response to the daily signal, make them very suitable tools for precise RDI scheduling (Conejero et al., 2011; Girón et al., 2015).

2.3. Partial root drying (PRD)

This DI strategy, which has also been called partial root- zone irrigation, can be applied through alternate furrow irrigation (Grimes et al., 1968) and by surface and subsurface drip irrigation (Table 1) (Samadi and Sepaskhah, 1984), and is based on irrigat- ing only one part of the root zone, leaving another part to dry to a certain soil water content before rewetting by shifting irrigation to the dry side (Dry and Loveys, 1998; Sepaskhah and Ahmadi, 2010) (Fig. 1).

The strategy is based in the idea that, in PRD, roots sense soil drying, triggering the synthesis of the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), which reduces leaf expansion and stomatal conductance, while, simultaneously, the roots of the watered side of the soil absorb sufficient water to maintain a favourable plant water sta- tus (Table 1) (Liu et al., 2006a; Zegbe et al., 2006; Ahmadi et al., 2010). In addition, other complementary physiological responses to PRD can favour stomatal closure such as lower cytokine levels (Stoll et al., 2000; Davies et al., 2005) and higher xylem pH (Davies and Zhang, 1991; Stoll et al., 2000). Other results in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) indicated that PRD may also increase root growth (Dry et al., 2000)

Currently, no definitive solid criteria exist for deciding the opti- mum timing of irrigation for each side (Table 2), probably due to the diversity of factors involved, such as evaporative demand, soil

characteristics, soil water status at any precise moment, crop phe- nological stage, etc., any of which may determine the plant response to wetting or drying of each side of roots (Saeed et al., 2008). In this sense, the time when soil water extraction from the dry side is neg- ligible has been proposed as the optimum time to switch wetting from the irrigated root side to the non-irrigated side (Kriedmann and Goodwin, 2003). Also, the threshold soil water content at which the maximum xylem ABA concentration is produced was proposed by Liu et al. (2008) as a criterion for switching irrigation.

Some authors showed that crops under PRD gave better yields than the same crops under DI when the same amount of water is applied. This resulted in higher WP and even better fruit quality (Kriedmann and Goodwin, 2003; Kang and Zhang, 2004; Liu et al., 2006a,b). However, Wakrim et al. (2005) reported no significant difference in water use efficiencies (WUE) between PRD and DI, but a substantial increase in WUE when PRD was compared with FI.

3. Emerging fruit crops response to deftcit irrigation

3.1. Jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill.)

Jujube tree (family Rhamnaceae) is native to China, where it has been cultivated for more than 5000 years, and to neighbour- ing areas of Mongolia and the Central Asian Republics. With time, its cultivation has spread to other regions of the world, including to Mediterranean countries. Jujube fruit is an integral part of the culture and way of life of millions of people and has also become important for many regions of the world following its introduction (Azam-Ali et al., 2006); indeed, it can be considered a so-called func- tional food, since it has nutritional as well as medicinal uses (Choi et al., 2011). Nevertheless, until now jujube has been considered of minor importance and, from a research and development point of view, it has received little attention from most governments.

Jujube is able to withstand severe drought during the growing season (Fig. 2A) and to tolerate very low winter temperatures dur- ing its dormancy (Dahiya et al., 1981; Ming and Sun, 1986; Ming and Sun, 1986). In this sense, jujube trees are able to maintain leaf turgor under severe water deficit (Wstem < 3.0 MPa), essen- tially by developing two complementary mechanisms – leaf active osmoregulation (stress tolerance mechanism) and the control of water loss via transpiration (stress avoidance mechanism), while allowing substantial gas exchange rates and, as a consequence, good leaf productivity (Ma et al., 2007; Cruz et al., 2012; Galindo et al., 2016). The gradual recovery of leaf conductance after re- watering previously stressed plants can also be considered as a mechanism for promoting leaf rehydration (Cruz et al., 2012). Moreover, the high leaf relative apoplastic water content (RWCa) levels and the possibility of increasing the accumulation of water in the apoplasm in response to water stress supports a steeper gra- dient in the water potential between the leaf and soil (Cruz et al., 2012).

Galindo et al. (2016) showed that in contrast with the axiom that expansive cell growth requires the presence of cell turgor, no direct relation between turgor and growth rate exists in jujube fruits. This could be due to an enhancement of a cell elasticity mecha- nism (elastic adjustment), which would maintain fruit turgor even at severe water stress levels by reducing fruit cell size, or to the fact that jujube fruit growth depends on fruit growth-effective turgor rather than just on turgor pressure. These authors also reported that during most of the fruit ripening stage water can enter the fruits via the phloem rather than via the xylem. This could be related with the increase in sensitivity to drought during this phenological period, when moderate and severe water deficits induce a signif- icant reduction in total marketable fruit yield (number of fruits

and/or average fruit weight). In contrast with this last idea, Cui et al. (2008, 2009) concluded that the jujube fruit maturation stage is the optimal stage to implement water deficit strategies and that while water deficit during the fruit growth slightly reduced the growth rate, re-watering had an over-compensatory effect, thus reducing the negative influence on fruit size.

The same authors (Cui et al., 2008, 2009) mentioned the rel- atively low water requirements of around 360 mm and showed that jujube fruit maturation can be advanced and the fruit yield and quality enhanced if appropriate RDI is applied at certain growth stages (bud burst to leafing and fruit maturation). Also, Gao et al. (2014) showed that jujube fruit responded positively to irrigation practices, the concentration of some taste-related (e.g. glucose, fructose, TSS and malic acid) and health-related (e.g. catechin and epicatechin) compounds being generally much higher in drip irrigated fruits. In this sense too, Collado-González et al. (2013) demonstrated that water deficit did not affect the tendency of procyanidins to self-aggregate but increased the con- tent of procyanidins of low molecular mass (Table 3), improving their potential bioavailability and possible physiological effects on human health. The procyanidin content of fruit from well-watered trees increased during domestic cold storage, whereas the fruits from trees suffering severe water stress lost some of their procyani- din content. Moreover, in a subsequent paper, Collado-González et al. (2014) pointed to a certain proportionality in the response of jujube fruits to moderate and severe deficit irrigation during fruit maturation. So, when plants were exposed to moderate water deficit (Wstem from 1.40 to 2.28 MPa) during this phenological period there was no change in fruit size, moisture content, firm- ness, or fruit peel and flesh colour compared with fully irrigated trees. Only when a more severe water stress (Wstem from 1.40 to 3.14 MPa) was reached, there were significant increases in the sucrose and arabinose contents measured (Table 3). In addition, the response of fruit amino acids to water deficit was not as sensitive as expected, since there was no direct relationship with the magni- tude of the water deficit. However, the decrease in fruit asparagine content as a result of severer water deficit is a positive aspect, because this amino acid is the major precursor of acrylamide, a potentially toxic compound formed during the heat-processing of some plant foods. However, severe water deficit produced smaller fruit, with a lower moisture content and yield, accompanied by changes in firmness and peel and flesh colour.

3.2. Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.)

Loquat is a subtropical evergreen tree that belongs to the family Rosaceae, subtribe Pyrinae (formerly subfamily Maloideae) (Potter et al., 2007). Some of the common names of loquat include Japanese plum, Japanese medlar, Maltese plum, etc. It is considered indige- nous to southeastern China and possibly southern Japan, because it is said to have been cultivated there for over 1000 years. Actually, more than 30 countries in subtropical and mild-temperate regions of the world are cultivating selections of loquat cultivars performed during the 19th century (Feng et al., 2007; Ferreres et al., 2009; He et al., 2011).

It is important to point out that loquat is characterized by an unusual phenology that makes it different of the traditional tem- perate fruit crops. It blooms in autumn on apical panicles formed on current year wood, developing fruits during winter and ripening in early spring (Fig. 2B). Moreover, this fruit as other pomes presents a sigmoidal pattern of fruit growth (Dennis, 1988; Cuevas et al., 2003) and arrives at markets before any other spring fruit (Cuevas et al., 2007a; Hueso and Cuevas, 2008).

Research on mechanisms developed by loquat plant to resist drought is very scarce, mainly at plant water relations levels. Diur- nal and seasonal gas exchange values in loquat plants respond

Fig. 2. Seasonal pattern of fruit and shoot growth of jujube (Z. jujuba, cv Grande de Albatera) (A), loquat (E. japonica, cv Algerie) (B), pistachio (P. vera, cv Kerman) (C) and pomegranate (P. granatum, cv Mollar de Elche) (D) plants in the southeast (A, B and D) and central (C) Spain conditions. Sources: Hernández et al. (2015), Cuevas et al. (2007a), Memmi et al. (2016b) and Melgarejo et al. (1997), respectively.

to changes in plant water status and to changes in evaporative demand, showing minimum values in summer. Moreover, the diur- nal trend of photosynthetic rate in loquat, at least during autumn and winter, was characterized by a double-picked curve, suggesting the predominance of genotype over the environmental factors on the loquat gas exchange behaviour (Stellfeldt et al., 2011), because this last behaviour diverges from that indicated for woody Mediter- ranean vegetation, which is characterized by a maximum value in the morning, declining towards midday, and remaining more or less constant afterward. Recently, Zhang et al. (2015) observed some loquat drought stress tolerance mechanisms: i) the increase in chlorophyll content, which can enhances photosynthesis under water deficit, ii) the increase in the content of soluble sugars and proline of roots, which increased the osmotic adjustment and the favourable water potential gradient for water into the roots, iii) the increase in the ABA content of leaves, which induced the stomata closing and improved the water-use efficiency, and iv) the increase in the levels of antioxidant enzyme activities mainly at leaf level. The ability of loquat plants to develop leaf active osmoregulation was earlier suggested by García-Legaz et al. (2005) who studied the effect of salinity on the water relations of loquat plants on two different rootstocks. Luo et al. (2007) studied the response of two different loquat cultivars to water deficit and concluded that ‘Changhong No. 3’, the more water deficit resistant cultivar, responds to water deficit with a higher increase in stomatal density and reducing stomatal size than ‘Jiefangzhong’ cultivar. In addition,

in ‘Jiefangzhong’ cultivar, leaf photosynthetic pigment concentra- tions decrease in response to drought stress, while in ‘Changhong No. 3’ the concentrations of photosynthetic pigments increased markedly under light drought stress.

Hueso and Cuevas (2008) estimated relatively high loquat water needs of around 724 mm, and demonstrated observing the long term response of this crop to postharvest RDI that this crop can be considered as a model for the continuous application of RDI strategies, mainly for the economic benefits of saving water dur- ing summer, increasing fruit size and grading and fruit value and gross revenue without affecting yield (Hueso and Cuevas, 2008; Cuevas et al., 2009). This positive response of loquat to RDI is based in two main facts; the clear separation between vegetative and reproductive growth, allowing the application of postharvest RDI without affecting fruit growth, and the improving of fruit value when postharvest RDI is applied because important advancing har- vest time in the next season can be achieved. In this sense, the most profitable RDI strategy is the complete suppression of water- ing from around one month after the end of previous harvest (early June) up to reach a Wstem value circa – 2.2 MPa (8–9 weeks), because do not alter the formation of the floral organs and increase the advancement of bloom next season (Cuevas et al., 2007a,b, 2009, 2012), while prolonging the water deficit period during one addi- tional month (August) may impair flower development in loquat (Rodríguez et al., 2007).

Table 3

Effect of different deficit irrigation (DI) strategies (SDI, sustained deficit irrigation; RDI, regulated deficit irrigation) on health-related compounds content (↑, increased; ↓, decreased; ≈, no affected) in the edible portion of jujube, pistachio and pomegranate fruits with a non-exhaustive list of references.             

Fruit Crop DI strategy Compound Response to moderate water deficit

Response to severe water deficit

References

Epicatechin ↑ ↑ Collado-

SDI/RDI

Total B type procyanidins ↑ ↑

González et al.

Self-aggregated procyanidins

≈ ≈ (2013)

Jujube (Ziziphus jujubaMill.)

SDI/RDI Vitamin C ≈ ↑

Sugars Sucrose or arabinose ↑ ↑

Glucose ↑ ↑

Organic acids Malic or oxalic ↑ ↑

Citric ≈ ↓

Proline ≈ ↑

Asparagine ≈ ↓

Collado- González et al. (2014)

Other amino acids No uniform

behaviour

No uniform behaviour

SDI Flavonoids Epicatechin or catechin ↓ ↓

Procyanidins ≈ ≈

Rutin ↓ ↑

Quercetin ↑ ≈

Total phenolic compounds ≈ ≈

Gao et al. (2014)

Sugars (sucrose, glucose or ↓ ↓

fructose)

Organic acids (malic, ↓ ↓

succinic or citric)

Pistachio (Pistacia veraL.)

Ascorbic acid ≈ ≈

RDI Fatty acids Oleic or palmitic ≈ ≈ Carbonell-

Barrachina et al. (2014)

Linoleic ↑ ↑

Volatile compounds Aldehydes ↓ ↑

Pyrazines and terpenes ↑ ↓

Anthocyanins ≈ ↓

Pomegranate (Punica granatumL.)

SDI Phenolic compounds ↓ ↓

Punicalagin ↓ ↓

Ellagic acid ≈ ≈

Mena et al. (2013)

Due to the fact that research on loquat response to RDI has been always focusses on fruit earliness due to its enormous importance in loquat price and commercialization and the high susceptibil- ity of mature loquat fruits to mechanical damage during harvest and postharvest handling, to the best of our knowledge, do not exist publications on the effect of deficit irrigation on loquat qual- ity. Since loquat is a non-climacteric fruit, premature picking is inadvisable because fruits are excessively acid and taste unpalat- able to consumers. Thus, research has been focussed to stablish fruit maturity indices in order to optimize harvesting. Pinillos et al. (2011) suggested that at every picking date, only those fruits with a skin colour that corresponds to a minimum TSS and TSS/TA val- ues should be harvested, especially at the earliest harvests of the season. Also, a TSS/TA of 0.7 was previously proposed as minimum value for harvest (Pinillos et al., 2007). Recently, Can˜ete et al. (2015) showed the consumers preference for light orange skin fruits rather than fully ripe ones due to their greater firmness, fewer skin defects and better balance between sweetness and acidity, and proposed harvesting loquat fruits with a minimum value of TSS of 10 Brix and a TSS/TA ratio close to 1.0 to guarantee eating quality and consumer satisfaction.

3.3. Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.)

Pistachio tree is native to western Asia and Asia Minor, from Syria to the Caucasus and Afghanistan. They are mentioned in the Old Testament. Archaeological evidence from Turkey indicates that the nuts were being used for food as early as 7000 B.C. Pistachio is a member of the Anacardiaceae or cashew family, and is the only commercially edible nut among the eleven species in the genus

Pistacia and by far the most economically important. The pistachio was introduced into Italy from Syria early in the first century A.D., and subsequently its cultivation spread to other Mediterranean countries.

Pistachio trees are considered one of the most drought resis- tant fruit species, because they can survive under extreme drought conditions. Spiegel-Roy et al. (1977) observed that under desert conditions pistachio trees were able to differentiate sufficient flower buds to provide an appreciable yield and that roots were uniformly spread down to a depth of 2.40 m even if soil mois- ture in all the horizons was below the permanent wilting point of soil. Related with this last characteristic, some authors, e.g. Lin et al. (1984) and Germana (1997), suggested that pistachio drought resistance mainly depends on extensive root system development, because, despite it commonly being though a xerophyte, it does not present the morphological characteristic of such in the leaves, showing, instead, high values of net photosynthesis (Pn) and leaf conductance (gleaf). Furthermore, the leaves can be considered as isolaterals since their upper and lower pages are structurally simi- lar, with almost identical stomatal density and conductance. Also, Kanber et al. (1993) showed that root activity is confined to shal- lower soil depths in short interval irrigation conditions. Another singularity of pistachio trees is that both yield and the water stress level regulate the flower bud drop that occurs before the begin- ning of kernel growth. So, the following year’s pistachio yield can decrease considerably as a consequence of a higher percentage of flower buds dropped i) in years of higher yield or ii) when a severe water deficit during fruit stage II takes place (Pérez-López et al., 2017).

Pistachio plants exposed to water stress also develop stress avoidance and stress tolerance mechanisms. As regard the first sort of mechanism, during pistachio fruit stages I and II (Fig. 2C), when the soil water content is quite high and the evaporative demand of the atmosphere is low, these plants show higher Pn and gleaf values. In contrast, during fruit stage III, at which the evaporative demand of the atmosphere is higher, the pistachio plants show lower Pn and gleaf values (n et al., 2011,b; Memmi et al., 2016a,b). When plants are under water deficit, gleaf values decrease in order to limit water loss through transpiration, and at very pronounced levels of water deficit, the daily pattern of gleaf is modified, showing maximum values in the early morning and decreasing gradually, whereas Pn values remain fairly constant until sunset because this parameter is less sensitive to water deficit than gleaf (D. Pérez- López, unpublished data). In this respect, Behboudian et al. (1986) established that pistachio plants are able to continue their photo- synthetic activity even when Wleaf reaches extremely low values of 5.0 to 6.0 MPa. Moreover, this crop has an outstanding capa- bility for leaf thermoregulation, even at sever water stress levels, because pistachio canopies can transpire water at rates far higher than those normally found in mesophytes, and are able to rapidly compensate water losses without showing visible stress condition symptoms (Germana, 1997). In addition, when previously water stressed plants are re-watered, the gradual and slow recovery of the plant water status observed can be considered as a mechanism for promoting leaf rehydration (Memmi et al., 2016b). As regard the development of stress tolerance mechanisms, Gijón et al. (2011) identified changes in the leaf bulk modulus of elasticity during pit hardening (stage II) and active osmotic adjustment at any phe- nological period. Similarly, Behboudian et al. (1986) showed that pistachio plants at a Wleaf value of 6.0 MPa exhibited very high Wp values (3.0 MPa).