Enhanced Performance of Processing Tomatoes by Potassium Nitratebased Nutrition.

Oded Achilea
Haifa Chemicals Ltd, P.O. Box
10809, Haifa Bay, Israel, 26120.
oded@haifachem.co.il

Uzi Kafkafi
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department
of Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics, P.O.Box
12, Rehovot, 76100 Israel. Kafkafi@agri.huji.ac.il

Keywords: Brix, dry matter, fertigation, fruit quality, lycopene, side dressing, yield.
ABSTRACT
A series of experiments was conducted in Hungary, Spain, Italy and Israel to
evaluate the specific contribution of potassium nitrate to yields and quality parameters
of processing tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). In Hungary, 92 kg ha-1 of sidedressed K2O applied as potassium nitrate (NOP) was proven superior to potassium
chloride (MOP) and to potassium sulfate (SOP) as based on total marketable yield
(12.8% over control), mean fruit weight (3.9% over control) and dry matter content
(26.1% over control). In Spain, side dressing with 92 kg ha-1 of K2O, applied as
potassium nitrate, improved plant performance by increasing mean plant yield, 0Brix
and mean fruit weight by 25%, 5.13%, and 5.15%, respectively. Total yield was
increased from 58.75 to 60.98 t ha-1. Consequently, the added income to the grower far
exceeded his marginal costs for fertilizers. In Italy, application of 260 kg ha-1 of K2O
was most effective (total yield =187 t ha-1) when 70% of this dosage was applied as
potassium nitrate via fertigation during the growing season. This treatment generated
higher yields compared to application of the entire N-P-K or the entire P-K rates as a
single pre-transplant application (156 t ha-1, or 177 t ha-1, respectively). Additional
benefits of the fertigation treatment were a higher proportion of class I fruit and an
increased mean fruit weight; however, 0Brix was somewhat reduced. In Israel, we found
a convex parabolic response of lycopene yield and concentration in tomatoes of 4
different cultivars to the K concentration in the nutrient solution. Lycopene
concentration of 207 mg kg-1 in fruit fresh matter was obtained when K concentration
in the nutrient solution was 8 meq L-1. Highest lycopene concentrations were observed
when fruit dry matter was 4.5% or higher. Nitrate was found to be the best form of
nitrogen for maximum lycopene concentration in the fresh fruit.

INTRODUCTION
Potassium (K) has been shown (Anac et al., 1994; Kilink & Karakas, 1992) to
greatly contribute to total yield, color intensity, TSS and dry matter content, and mean fruit
weight in processing tomatoes (PT). In these studies, the K-carrier was sulfate of potash
(SOP) applied preplant. Optimal results were obtained at an application rate of 240-320 kg
ha-1 of K2O with yields of 85-107 t ha-1. The contribution of potassium nitrate to the
resistance of PT towards various biocides (fungicide, herbicide, insecticide and bactericide)
has been reported by Barker & Ready (1989). The unique enhancing effect of potassium
nitrate on the performance of PT has been shown by Kilinc and Karakas (1992) where foliar
application markedly increased total yield, color intensity, mean fruit weight and contents of
TSS and vitamin C. An increase of 22-40% in yield and improved quality were found by

fertigating peppers, cucumbers and squash (pers. commun. from Haifa Chemicals
agronomists worldwide) with potassium nitrate. Potassium nitrate was also found as an
effective means for the purpose of priming PT seeds (Alvardo et. al.,1987), thereby,
shortening time to germination and hastening emergence rates and increasing plant leaf area.
Johnstone et al. (2001) have shown that K requirement of PT plants peaks at
approximately 45 days after transplanting.
The effects of potassium nutrition on lycopene production in tomatoes were studied
by Ozbun et al. (1974) where they reported that a higher K nutrition rate is required for
maximum lycopene yield than for maximum fresh yield. Thus, it is necessary to find the
optimum K nutrition that will maximize lycopene output for PT. Nitrogen nutrition regime
should also be optimized to achieve this purpose. While Montagu and Goh (1990) could not
find a significant difference between N sources for lycopene production, Valenzuela et al.
(1990) did find a clear advantage for nitrate-N as compared to ammoniacal-N on total
carotenoids production in tomato plants.
The experiments described in this paper were conducted in various countries and
sundry growing conditions so as to test the hypothesis that tomatoes, when side-dressed or
fertigated during the growing season with potassium nitrate, can markedly improve grower
outputs in the field. The reason being that potassium nitrate, which is highly soluble and
available to the plant combines K and nitrate- nitrogen in an ideal ratio between these
nutrients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Hungary
The experiment was conducted in the Agricultural University of Debrecen in 199394. The entire experiment area was very uniform, and so were all agrotechnical operations
such as irrigation, weeding and disease control. Each plot included 3 plant beds 20 meters
long. Each treatment consisted of three such plots. The treatments compared 0 N and 0 K
(control) with 92 kg ha-1 of K2O applied as either Multi-K (Haifa Chemicals Ltd potassium
nitrate) or MOP or SOP. K level in the soil (loam) prior to the applications was in the range
of 7-10 ppm (extraction done with calcium chloride). All K applications were made in the
fall, prior to the planting season, and nitrogen was side dressed as ammonium nitrate in the
vegetative stage at a rate equal to the rate applied in form of potassium nitrate. N content of
the soil was not determined at planting time. The cultivar used for the experiment was
Kecskemeti Jubileum.
Spain
The experiment was conducted in Montijo, in Badajoz province in 2000, comparing
current growers practice of pre-plant application of all the K (as 850 kg ha-1 of 15-15-15),
with additional 72% (92 kg ha-1) of K in the form of Multi-K (Haifa Chemicals Ltd
potassium nitrate), side-dressed at 67 days after planting. Exchangeable K level in the soil
(sandy-loam) prior to the side dressing was 172 ppm, while total cation exchangeable
capacity was 10.7 meq. 100 g-1. A control application of N at 12 kg ha-1 (as applied by the
NOP treatment) in the form of ammonium nitrate was done at 67 DAP too. The cultivar used
for the experiment was Avalon.

Italy
The experiment was conducted in Tuscany province (Arsia Region) in 2000. In the
control all the N,P,K (120-140-260 kg ha-1, respectively) were supplied in granular form
only, split between the following dates: 10 days prior to transplanting (65% of N and K rates
and the entire P); 26 days after transplanting (10% of N and K rates); 51 days after
transplanting (25% of N and K rates as Multi-K- Haifa Chemicals Ltd potassium nitrate). In
the Fertigation L treatment same total rates of nutrients were used, but only 30% of the
N,P,K were applied as preplant, and the balance was applied as 12 weekly fertigation
treatments, along the growing season by drip irrigation. These applications employed
crystalline Multi-K as the sole source of K, and ammonium nitrate and phosphoric acid as
required to complete N & P rates. The design of Fertigation H treatment was identical to
that of Fertigation L but all nutrients were applied at a rate 34% higher. Total applied N,P
and K were, therefore, 160, 180 and 360 kg ha-1, respectively. K level in the soil (clay-loam)
prior to the pre-plant dressing was in the range of 10-13 ppm (extraction done with calcium
chloride). The cultivar used for the experiment was Perfectpeel F1.
Israel
The experiment was conducted in 1995 in a net-house. Plants of 2 commercial PT
cultivars (Brigade& Peto 81) and 2 experimental lycopene- rich cultivars (8687, and
70) were grown in vermiculite- filled, 10 L containers and nurtured with recirculated
nutrient solutions differing in their K concentrations (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 meq. l-1, from
Multi-K- Haifa Chemicals Ltd potassium nitrate), ammonium / nitrate ratios (0; 0.5; 1). Leaf
samples were taken and analyzed for K contents along the growing cycle. The plants were
harvested and analyzed 117 days after transplanting. Analyses included K composition of the
leaves, total yield, dry matter and lycopene contents in the fruits.
Statistical analysis of the results was done by Dunkans multiple-range test at P<5%.
RESULTS
Comparison of Potassium Nitrate with Other K-Carriers, Applied as Pre-planting.
The experiment in Hungary has shown significant superiority of potassium nitrate
over the untreated control as well as over MOP and SOP, in both total marketable yield and
in dry matter content. Better performance was found also in terms of mean fruit weight but
the differences were not statistically significant (Table 1).
Conventional vs. Enhanced Nutritional Regime
Side-dressed potassium nitrate significantly improved PT performances under
Spanish growing conditions when applied additional to current growers practice that was
based on local extension service recommendations. Yield per plant, 0Brix, mean fruit size
were considerably increased by the additional K thereby increasing consequently grower
income (Table 2). Additional N only, that was applied as a control treatment alternative to the
potassium nitrate treatment did not have a marked contribution to the parameters mentioned
(data are not shown).
Side-dressed vs. Fertigated Multi-K
In Italy Multi-K was much more efficient when fertigated than when side-dressed. As
seen in Figure 1, top-grade quality produce, as well as total yield, were significantly higher

than for the control. The results obtained show a clear advantage by applying most of the
nutrients during the period when they are being consumed by the developing plant and fruits.
Thirty-four percent increase in the N,P,K application rates resulted in an 18% increase in
yield over the control and a marked 35% increase in the profitability of the crop (Figure 1
and Table 3).
The Effect of K Concentration in the Nutrient Solution on Lycopene Production
Lycopene concentration was positively related to K content in the tomato fruit.
Maximum lycopene content was obtained in fruits having over 4.5% K in their dry matter
(Figure 2, Sosnitsky, 1996). K concentration in the serum of these fruits was always higher
than 3500 mg kg-1. Lycopene yield response to the dosage of potassium nitrate applied was
described by an optimum curve, with highest yield obtained by plants of all cultivars tested,
at 16 g K per plant (a typifying curve is given in Figure 3). High K content in the leaves at
pre-inflorescence stages coincided with high lycopene yields in the mature fruits (data not
shown).
The Effect of N Form on Lycopene Yield
Nutrient solutions exclusively based on nitrate-nitrogen (8 meq. L-1) has significantly
outperformed nutrient solutions containing 50% of the N in ammonium form. The parameters
that quantified this trend were: total lycopene yield, lycopene concentration in fruit dry
matter (DM), total yield of red fruits and mean fruit weight (Table 4). Better results (though
statistically not significant) were obtained concerning the number of fruits per plant, the total
fruit DM and the K concentration in the fruit serum (table 4).
DISCUSSION
The results obtained in the experiment in Hungary concerning the superiority of
potassium nitrate vs. both MOP and SOP are in harmony with the results presented by
Csizinszky (1999), who compared same pre-plant applied K- carriers, on mulched tomatoes
grown on sandy soil. Csizinszky found a clear advantage of potassium nitrate over MOP and
SOP concerning extra-large fruit yield, marketable fruit yield and K content in plant shoots.
Our findings in Hungary at loamy soil conditions are therefore, complementary to
Csizinszkys who carried out his experiments at different soil conditions. Our findings are,
therefore an additional link in a long series of similar experiments showing the same trend
also in potatoes (Bester, 1986; Roelofs, pers. commun. from Holland), pumpkin (Chamel,
1969), cotton (Howard et al., 1998), lucerne (A. Sieling, pers. Commun.), bananas (Guerrero
and Gadban, 1996), prunes (Southwick et al., 1996), and other crops.
The results obtained in Spain show that PT requirements for potassium are
undervalued by both the growers and by the extension service officers, and current K
recommendations should be revised upwards. Applying it in mid-season in the form of a
fully soluble and highly available K carrier can maximize K contribution to yield and
profitability. This experiment also clarified that it was the K applied by the potassium nitrate
rather than the N that had this positive effect on the yield parameters. The advantage of sidedressing the K over pre-plant application was also found by Hartz et al. (2001), who showed
that side-dressed K significantly alleviated tomato quality defects linked to K-deficiency. All
these findings are well explained by Johnstone et al. (2001) who demonstrated that K
requirement of PT plants peaks at about 45 days after transplanting. Naturally, the plant
responds well when a highly- available and timely- applied potassium fertilizer meets this
requirement.

Total yields obtained in Italy by the fertigation treatments were the highest recorded
in the experiments described in this paper (185-187 t ha-1), implying that fertigation is the
ideal method of application of nutrients for intensive and profitable cultivation of PT. The
fact is that a 34% increase in N,P,K application rates resulted in a marked increase in produce
output and profits. This implies again that the contribution of high nutritive inputs has not yet
been fully realized. It should be noted that the same rate of K was applied in this experiment
as in Anac et al. (1994) and in Kilinc and Karakas (1992) experiments, but they used it as
preplant application in the form of SOP. In view of the aforementioned, it is fully
understandable that the marginal benefit from the K applied in Italy was remarkably higher
than that of the other papers cited above.
The results obtained with four different PT cultivars in Israel show a clear positive
linkage of yield quantitative and qualitative parameters to the potassium and nitrogen
nutrition regime. Similar to Ozbun et al. (1974) we found that fruit K content is a major
factor determining lycopene yield. Similarly, high K content in the fruit is dependent on the
foliar K content at the pre-inflorescence stages. This K appears to serve as an immediate
operational reservoir for the developing fruit that is functioning as an intensive K sink.
Lycopene is produced in the fruit by a series of enzymatic reactions. The enzymatic activity
is affected by the internal ionic strength in the cell that is primarily controlled by the
concentration of K in the cytoplasm and the vacuoles. Since lycopene response to applied K
can be depicted by an optimum curve, this implies that lycopene production is sensitive to the
exact K concentration in the cytoplasm or dependency on other limiting factors such as light
intensity and quality, ambient temperature patterns and water availability to the plant.
Ammonium nitrogen has impaired lycopene production. This may be due to many
factors, but mainly the decrease in the pH of the cytoplasm caused by the ammonium which
interferes with the cell enzymatic activities. NH4-fed plants also suffer from decreased fruit
DM and increased proportion of fruits with blossom-end rot. Lower yields and inferior
quality under relatively high ammonium- N nutrition have been documented also in potatoes
(Achilea et al., 2000; Cao and Tibbitts, 1998) and in other crops.

CONCLUSIONS
1. Intensive potassium nutrition is a prerequisite for high total yields of PT.
2. Intensive potassic nutrition is a prerequisite for quality parameters of tomato fruits,
such as share of marketable yield, 0Brix, DM, red color, size, and lycopene content.
3. Potassium needs to be fully available to the plant, especially during early growing
stages and fruit development. By itself, pre-plant application is definitely insufficient.
4. Potassium nitrate is the K fertilizer of choice for this crop under all growing stages.
Literature Cited
Achilea, O., Garnett, S., Sofer, Y., Gundia, M., Roelofs, M., Knight, F.H. and Anders
J..2000. Multi-KMg, a superior potassic fertilizer for side-dressing of potatoes for
improved yield and quality. In Plant nutrition for the next Millenium, El-Fouly &
Abdalla (Eds.). 6pp. (In press).
Alvardo, A.D., Bradford, K.J. and Hewitt, J.D. 1987. Osmotic priming of tomato seeds:
effects on germination, field emergence, seedling growth, and fruit yield. J. Amer. Soc.
Hort. Sci. 112(3):427-432.
Anac, D., Eryuce, N. and Kilinc, R. 1994. Effect of N, P, K fertilizer levels on yield and
quality properties of processing tomatoes in Turkey. Acta Hort. 376:243-250.

Bester, G.G. 1986. Influence of different types of potassium fertilizers on potato (Solanum
tuberosum L.). M.Sc. thesis, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, RSA.
Barker, A.V. and Ready, K.M. 1989. Growth and composition of tomato as affected by
source of nitrogen and biocydes. J. Plant Nutr.:12(1): 95-109.
Cao, W. and Tibbitts, T.W. 1998. Response of potatoes to nitrogen concentrations differ with
nitrogen forms. J. Plant Nutr. 21 (4):615-623.
Chamel, A. 1969. A study of some aspects of potassium uptake by leaves, using the radioisotope K42. Potash Review 3, 31pp.
Csizinszky, A. 1999. Yield response of polyethylene mulched tomato to potassium source
and rate on sand. J. Plant Nutr.:22(4&5):669-678.
Guerrero, R.R. and Gadban, R. 1996. Banana response to different potassium sources in
fertigation, Cienaga, (Magdalena), Colombia. IFA-PPI regional conference for Latin
America and the Caribbean.
Hartz, T.K., Miyao, E.M., Mullen, R.J. and Cahn, M.D. 2001. Potassium fertilization effects
on processing tomato yield and fruit quality. Acta Hort. 542:127-133.
Howard, D.D., Gwathmey, C.O. and Sams, C.E. 1998. Foliar feeding of cotton: Evaluating
potassium sources, potassium solution buffering, and boron. Agron. J. 90:740-746.
Johnstone, P.R., Nichols, M.A., Fisher, K.J. and Reid, J. 2001. Nutritional studies with
processing tomato grown in aeroponics. Acta Hort. 542:143-150.
Kilinc, R. and Karakas, D. 1992. Effect of soil and foliar application of potassium doses on
yield and quality properties of processing tomato plant grown under field conditions.
Karakas Ph.D. Thesis, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, (in Turkish).
Montagu, K.D. and Goh, K.M. 1990. Effects of forms and rates of organic and inorganic
nitrogen fertilizers on the yield and some quality indices of tomatoes. New Zealand J.
Crop Hort. Sci. 18:31-38.
Ozbun, J.L., Boutonnet, C.E., Sadik, S. and Minges, P.E. 1974. Tomato Fruit Ripening. .
Effect of potassium nutrition on occurrence of white tissue. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci.
91:566-572.
Sosnitsky P. 1996. Salinity, potassium and N nutrition effect on lycopene content of
processing tomato . M.Sc. Thesis. Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel.
Southwick, S.M., Olson, W., Yeager, J. and Weis, K.G. 1996. Optimum timing of potassium
nitrate spray applications to 'French' prune trees. J. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 121(2):326-333.
Valenzuela, J.L, Sanchez, A., Lorente, F.A. del Rio, A. and Romero, l. 1990. Does N
directly influence carbohydrates and pigments in tomato and cucumber? Acta Hort.
287:477-483.

Tables
Table 1. Superiority of potassium nitrate over other K- carriers1 in PT in Hungary.
Parameters checked
Total marketable yield
(t ha-1)
Mean fruit weight (g)
Dry matter (t ha-1)
1

Control

MOP (KCl)

SOP (K2SO4)

NOP (KNO3)

46.9 a

44.6 a

47.3 a

52.9 b

124.2 a
2.3 a

124.1 a
2.6 a

126.3 a
2.7 a

129.0 a
2.9 b

All treatments (except control) were based on the pre-plant application of 92 kg ha-1 of K2O

Table 2. The contribution of side-dressed potassium nitrate to growing PT in Spain.

Parameters checked

Control

Multi-K

Total yield (kg plant-1)

Extract pH
0
Brix
Mean fruit weight (g)
Net growers income (US$ ha-1)

2.60 a
4.43 a
5.26 a
73.32 a
4243.6

3.26 b
4.43 a
5.53 a
77.10 b
4324.2

Contribution of potassium
nitrate (% over control)
+ 25
+ 5.13
+ 5.16
+ 1.9

Table 3. The contribution of the method of application of potassium nitrate and nutrition
intensity to yield and quality parameters and to growers profitability.
Parameters checked
Mean fruit weight (g)
Dry matter (t ha-1)
0
Brix
Relative net growers income (%)
Absolute net growers income (US$ ha-1)

Side- dressing

Fertigation L

Fertigation H

58.0 a
5.91 a
4.3 a
100

59.0 ab
6.27 a
4.7 b
114.4

62.0 b
8.06 b
4.9 b
135.1

11,719

13,404

15,830

Table 4. The effect of N form on yield quantitative and qualitative parameters, cv. 8687.
Parameters checked
Total lycopene yield (mg plant-1)
Lycopene in DM (mg kg-1)
Total yield of fresh red fruits (g plant-1)
Mean red fruit weight (g )
Number of fruits / plant
Total DM fruit yield (g plant-1)
K concentration in fruit serum (mg kg-1)

Nitrate / ammonium (mmol L-1)

8/0
4/4
681 a
2580 a
3277 a
42 a
88 a
326 a
4029 a

592 b
2420 b
2856 b
38 b
83 a
305 a
3812 a

Figures

Figure 1
Fertigation I

Yield components (t h-1)

Control

170
ab

Fertigation II

ab

130
a

ab

90
a

50

b
a

10
1 st grade

G reen

T OT A L

1000

3.5

y = -1.735x2 + 57.473x + 228.676

y = 0.250x2 + 2.283x - 2.486

Lycopene yield (mg / plant)

Lycopene content in fruit (mg / g DM)

Fig. 1.The effect of the method of application of potassium nitrate on yield components

R2 = 0.51 ; P<0.01
3

2.5

R2 = 0.53

800
600
400
200
0

1.5
3

3.5

4.5

Fruit K content (% in dry matter)

Fig. 2. Relationship between fruit K content and

lycopene content in a PT fruit cv. 70.
(Sosnitsky, 1996).

10

15

20

25

30

K applied (g / plant)

Fig. 3. The effect of potassium nitrate rate on

lycopene yield in PT, cv. Peto 81