Biodegradable Mulching Film vs. Traditional Polyethylene: Effects on Yield and Quality of San Marzano Tomato Fruits

Abstract

Mulching is a common practice for improving crop yield and obtaining an out-of-season production, but when made using plastic materials it can bring environmental problems due to the management and the disposal of films at the end of the cropping seasons. To increase the sustainability of this practice, recently, mulching films made with biodegradable organic materials have become more widely used. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of a biodegradable mulching film on yield and qualitative traits of the San Marzano tomato fruits over two years (2014 and 2015). Two different types of mulching were tested: (i) black biodegradable film (MB12) and (ii) black low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were compared to bare soil (BS). Both mulching films elicited a 25% increase in yield, mainly due to the significantly higher number of fruits per square meter, compared to BS. Both mulching films also elicited a 9.9% increase in total soluble solids and a 57% increase in carotenoid content, while firmness showed the highest value in BS fruits. MB12 determined the highest value of the Hunter color ratio a/b of tomato fruits, followed by LDPE, while the lowest value was recorded in BS fruits. Both mulching films elicited an increase of 9.6%, 26.0%, and 11.7% for flavonoids, polyphenols, and AsA, respectively. In 2014, the MB12 degradation started at 71 days after transplant (DAT); in 2015, at 104 DAT. Therefore, replacing polyethylene with biodegradable film would seem to be an agronomically efficient and environmentally sustainable practice.

Assessment of Yield and Quality of Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) Fruits Improved by Biodegradable Mulching Film in Two Different Regions of Southern Italy

“…In our research, both antioxidant activities were affected by the combined effect of the environment and mulching film. In particular, we highlighted a contrasting response of HAA to biodegradable mulching, contrary to previous studies on tomatoes [17,54] and strawberries [6], which report a positive influence of biodegradable films on hydrophilic antioxidant activity. In fact, only in Sicily, the experimental Materbi ® obtained a high level of HAA, while the other biodegradable film in Sicily and both films in Campania showed lower values.…”

“…Previous studies reported similar findings for biodegradable mulching. Di Mola et al [17], in an openfield trial on processing tomatoes with two different biodegradable mulches (including MaterBi ® ), obtained higher marketable yields compared to the non-mulched soil. Cozzolino et al [19] also obtained higher yields and number of fruits when melons were cultivated on MaterBi ® films compared to cultivation on LDPE.…”

“…To overcome the problem of substantial quantities of plastic waste, biodegradable and renewable raw materials can be used to produce mulching films. A variety of biodegradable plastic films composed of different polymers and additives are available on the market [11], and yields similar to those obtained with LDPE films have already been reported for many crops [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Yield and Quality Traits of Tomato ‘San Marzano’ Type as Affected by Photo-Selective Low-Density Polyethylene Mulching

“…Turoni srl, Forlì, Italy) equipped with an 8 mm diameter probe. Space parameters, a* (−a, green/red, +a) and b* (−b, blue/yellow, +b) responses, were detected on the two opposite sides of each fruit, as well as the firmness measurements [58]; color data were shown as red/yellow (a/b) ratio [58].…”

“…However, since different colored plastic films still provide inconclusive results, they need to be tested in interaction with site-specific factors, such as crop season, soil, and crop types. Mulching of tomato crops has been deeply investigated [53][54][55][56][57][58], but very few studies were conducted on the effect of yellow and silver mulching films on yield and fruit quality traits [51,59].…”