Research Information System
Erwerbs-Obstbau, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
Wounding is a common stress factor for plants, caused by abiotic elements. Plants have the ability to respond to the combined influence of different factors such as temperature fluctuations, radiation, precipitation, CO2 levels, and human-induced impacts. Vitis vinifera L., a resilient species capable of withstanding adverse conditions, offers the opportunity to manipulate quality attributes through viticultural practices. In the 2021 growing season, an experiment was conducted in a commercial vineyard situated in Tekirdağ, Turkey, to investigate the effects of leaf artificial stress treatments on clusters and berries of 21-year-old ‘Merlot’ grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) grafted on SO4 rootstocks. Employing a completely randomized block design, leaf artificial stress treatments (T0, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, and T9) were applied from different row directions and at various times. Overall, the artificial stress treatments did not significantly affect measured criteria such as berry weight, diameter, length, dry weight, volume, density, number of seeds, percentage of dry weight, skin area, and the ratio of berry skin area and berry volume (BSA/BVOL). However, notable discrepancies were observed among certain criteria across the treatments. T4 exhibited the highest mean berry weight and diameter, whereas T6 had the lowest. T3 displayed the highest mean berry length, while T6 had the lowest. T8 showed the highest mean berry dry weight, whereas T6 had the lowest. T4 yielded the highest mean berry volume, while T6 had the lowest. T7 had the highest mean berry density, with T4 having the lowest. T4 also had the highest mean number of berry seeds, while T6 had the lowest. The BSA/BVOL ratio remained relatively consistent across treatments, ranging from 4.26 to 4.58, implying that it may be less susceptible to artificial stress treatments compared to other criteria. Further investigations are required to examine the long-term effects of leaf artificial stress treatments and establish direct correlations between these treatments and their responses.