Correlation Analysis Between Fruit Quality of ‘Banbianhong’ Plum and Orchard Soil Physicochemical Properties in Different Production Areas of Suijiang County

To clarify the effects of soil physical and chemical properties in different producing areas on the fruit quality of Banbianhong plum, and to provide a scientific basis for orchard soil management and fruit quality improvement. Taking the soil and fruits of Banbianhong plum from Tianba Village (TB) in Zhongcheng Town, Liangjiang Village (LJ) in Zhongcheng Town, Nanan Village (NA) in Nanan Town, and Lianyu Village (LY) in Xintan Town of Suijiang County as research objects, the differences in soil physical and chemical indexes and fruit quality indexes were compared, the correlation between fruit quality indexes and soil physical and chemical indexes was analyzed, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to comprehensively evaluate fruit quality. There were differences in soil physical and chemical properties among the four producing areas. The contents of total potassium (15.83 g/kg) and available potassium (83.73 mg/kg) in NA were the lowest, and the soil pH was nearly neutral (6.82); LJ had the highest contents of total nitrogen (2.11 g/kg) and alkaline-hydrolyzable nitrogen (271.93 mg/kg); the soil pH in LY was acidic (4.32). In terms of fruit quality, NA showed the highest single fruit weight (38.75 g), soluble solids (10.87%), soluble sugar content (7.57 g/100g), and sugar-acid ratio (15.15); LJ had the highest contents of fruit protein (0.59 g/100g) and dietary fiber (3.78 g/100g). Correlation analysis indicated that soil pH was extremely significantly positively correlated with single fruit weight and fruit transverse diameter (p<0.01), and significantly positively correlated with fruit longitudinal diameter, titratable acid, and dietary fiber (p<0.05). Soil alkaline-hydrolyzable nitrogen was significantly negatively correlated with edible rate, total potassium was significantly negatively correlated with soluble sugar, and available potassium was extremely significantly negatively correlated with soluble solids. The comprehensive scores of fruit quality in each producing area were ranked as follows: NA (0.425) > LJ (0.281) > TB (-0.324) > LY (-0.382). Comprehensive analysis showed that the comprehensive fruit quality of Banbianhong plum in Nan'an Village of Nan'an Town, Suijiang County was the best, making it a high-quality producing area of Suijiang Banbianhong plum. Its soil physical and chemical characteristics can provide a scientific basis for soil management in the high-quality cultivation of Banbianhong plum.