Journal Article

Rootstock selection and grafting systems affect pepino (Solanum muricatum) fruit nutritional quality and plant performance

Bao, Shanhua, Wang, Xiaotong, Zhong, Qiwen, Si, Cheng, Wu, Yujiang, Sun, Zhu, Yang, Shipeng

2025

Overview

Pepino ( Solanum muricatum ) is a nutritionally valuable Solanaceae crop, but optimizing its grafting practices to improve survival, growth, and fruit quality remains a critical challenge for commercial production. In this study, we systematically evaluated four pepino scions grafted onto nine Solanaceae rootstocks—including tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ), pepper ( Capsicum annuum ), and eggplant ( Solanum melongena )—and optimized grafting parameters (cotyledon removal, grafting height, glucose pretreatment, and shading duration). We measured grafting survival, transplant success, vegetative growth, photosynthetic performance, metabolic activity, and antioxidant enzyme levels throughout early development. The optimal combination, ‘Qingcanxiang’ scion grafted onto eggplant rootstock ‘Moshi’, achieved survival rates above 90%, promoted shoot and root biomass accumulation, enhanced net Pn, and maintained elevated soluble protein and sugar contents. Multivariate analysis confirmed that genus-level taxonomic compatibility is a key determinant of graft success and physiological performance. Furthermore, heterografts improved fruit vitamin C content and sucrose accumulation while maintaining comparable yield, fruit morphology, and sensory quality. These findings provide a comprehensive and reproducible protocol for pepino grafting and practical guidance for improving growth performance, fruit quality, and stress resilience in commercial production.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Accumulation / Agricultural production / Agricultural research / Agriculture / antioxidant enzymes / Ascorbic acid / biochemical pathways / biomass production / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Capsicum - growth & development / Capsicum annuum / Compatibility / cotyledons / Crop yields / Cultivars / Disease / early development / eggplants / Environmental conditions / Experiments / Farm produce / Food quality / Fruit - growth & development / Fruit - physiology / fruit morphology / Fruit quality / Fruits / glucose / Grafting / Grafting procedure optimization / growth performance / Heart / Humidity / Leaves / Life Sciences / Methods / Morphology / Multivariate analysis / Nutritive Value / Optimization / Pepino (Solanum muricatum) / pepper / Peppers / photosynthesis / Physiological aspects / Physiology / Plant Roots - growth & development / Plant Sciences / Production processes / Quality / Roots (Botany) / Rootstock screening / Rootstocks / Scions / Sensory properties / Solanaceae / Solanum / Solanum - growth & development / Solanum - metabolism / Solanum - physiology / Solanum lycopersicum / Solanum lycopersicum - growth & development / Solanum melongena / Solanum melongena - growth & development / Solanum muricatum / Success / Sucrose / Survival / Tomatoes / Tree Biology / vegetative growth / Ventilation