Article ID: MI-113
The consumption of vegetables and fruits rich in potassium (K), such as melons and strawberries, is restricted in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Therefore, we attempted to produce low-K strawberry fruits through management of a KNO3 fertilizer in nutrient solution from anthesis to the harvest period. A general trend of decreasing K content in fruit was observed with the decrease of KNO3 concentration in the nutrient solution. Among four strawberry cultivars, the fruit of the ‘Toyonoka’ exhibited a K reduction of about 64% when plants were grown in nutrient solution with KNO3 at 1/16 of the normal level. Citric acid and ascorbic acid contents of ‘Toyonoka’ fruit were reduced with decreasing KNO3 concentrations in the nutrient solution. Although the reduced NO3− of the nutrient solution was adjusted by using Ca(NO3)2 to obtain low-K strawberries, growth, yield and quality did not vary with this adjustment. Compared with the typical level of K in strawberry fruit of 170 mg/100 g FW (Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan, 2011), a 23.5% decrease (130 mg/100 g FW) in K was found in 1/32 level of KNO3. The K contents of plant parts suggested that the low KNO3 level was responsible for the low K absorption, which may have affected the translocation and accumulation of K into fruit. Therefore, 1/32 level of KNO3 in nutrient solution lowers the fruit K content considerably.
