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Effects of Different Kinds of Potassium and Chloride Salts on Sugarcane Quality and Photosynthesis

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Abstract

Appropriate fertilizer management practices are important to improve sugarcane quality. We have ever reported that KCl and K2SO4 had different effects on sugarcane quality and that only excessive KCl application decreased sucrose concentration in juice, indicating that Cl− is the key factor for the quality improvement. In this study, to see the individual effects of Cl− independent of K+, we established treatments using different kinds of K+ and Cl− salts (50 mM KCl, 25 mM K2SO4, mixture of 12.5 mM MgCl2 and 12.5 mM CaCl2, and 50 mM NaCl). The treatments did not greatly affect quantitative parameters. Plants treated with KCl and K2SO4 had significantly higher juice K+ concentrations. On the other hand, Cl− concentration was remarkably high only in the KCl treatment and the other Cl− salt treatments hardly enhanced Cl− accumulation, suggesting that Cl− needs K+ to be efficiently absorbed. Juice sucrose concentration was lowest in the KCl treatment, and the other treatments had no adverse effects. We observed neither declines of stomatal conductance nor F v/F m; however, the KCl treatment showed a slightly lower CO2 assimilation rate, which may have accounted for the sucrose reduction. From this study, we could not evaluate the single effects of Cl− but revealed that Cl− could have a negative impact on sugarcane quality only when K+ is supplied above sufficiency levels, so that we need to reduce K+ as well as Cl− concentrations to improve sugarcane quality.

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Abbreviations

CaCl2 :

Calcium chloride

A :

CO2 assimilation rate

C i :

Intercellular CO2

MgCl2 :

Magnesium chloride

F m :

Maximum fluorescence

F o :

Minimum fluorescence

F v :

Variable fluorescence

KCl:

Potassium chloride

K2SO4 :

Potassium sulfate

NaCl:

Sodium chloride

g s :

Stomatal conductance

SL:

Stomatal limitation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Kenta Watanabe, Jun Tominaga, Shin Yabuta, Hiroo Takaragawa, Ryuichi Suwa, Masami Ueno & Yoshinobu Kawamitsu

  2. The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, 890-8580, Japan

    Kenta Watanabe & Hiroo Takaragawa

Authors
  1. Kenta Watanabe
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  2. Jun Tominaga
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  3. Shin Yabuta
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  4. Hiroo Takaragawa
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  5. Ryuichi Suwa
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  6. Masami Ueno
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  7. Yoshinobu Kawamitsu
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Correspondence to Yoshinobu Kawamitsu.

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Watanabe, K., Tominaga, J., Yabuta, S. et al. Effects of Different Kinds of Potassium and Chloride Salts on Sugarcane Quality and Photosynthesis. Sugar Tech 19, 378–385 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-016-0486-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-016-0486-2

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