Preface

Potassium is a major nutrient in plants, which plays a vital role in cellular functions and enzymatic reactions. Growth, development, and fruit quality greatly depend on this essen‐ tial element. Therefore, plants uptake potassium in higher amount than any other minerals except nitrogen. On the other hand, hydroponics is a managed culture technique where management of potassium nutrition is possible toward improvement of quality attributes in fruits and vegetables. Therefore, development of cultivation techniques following the specif‐ ic management of potassium nutrition would produce enhanced quality of crops.

In this book, the role of potassium nutrition in plants, its interaction with other nutrients, and its source fertilizers are included in the first few chapters. Potassium fertilizer manage‐ ment and cultivation techniques of leafy and fruit vegetables are also included. Software de‐ veloped for the calculation of hydroponic nutrients including potassium is also illustrated in this book for easy management of cultural solution.

Interesting researches on potassium nutrition and quality improvement in fruits and vegeta‐ bles are brought together to present this book to teachers, researchers, and advanced stu‐ dents of plant biological science.

Publication of this book would have been impossible without the interesting research work of many researchers around the globe. Acknowledgment goes to the chapter contributors, who volunteered their valuable time to publish this book.

**Dr. Md Asaduzzaman**

Horticulture Research Centre Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute Gazipur, Bangladesh

**Dr. Toshiki Asao** Department of Agriculture School of Life and Environmental Science Shimane University, Matsue, Japan

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Introductory Chapter: Potassium in Quality**

**Introductory Chapter: Potassium in Quality** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.75654

Potassium is one of the essential plant nutrients that play a crucial role in the quality improvement of fruits and vegetables. It has also a great requirement and impact on the postharvest qualities of fruits and vegetables. In this regard, hydroponic technology is a managed culture system where proper management of potassium nutrition is possible for producing quality horticultural crops. Management of chemical composition including potassium content of hydroponic culture solution and physical modification of growing environments can enhance the performance of agricultural produce. Therefore, development of cultivation methods leads to production and supplementation of specialty fruits and vegetables providing several

Potassium is the most abundant ion in the plant cell and regulates a range of cell functions and activates numerous enzyme reactions [1]. It is necessary for normal growth and development of plants [2] and absorbed by roots than any other mineral element except nitrogen [1, 3–5]. It has major function in the process of enzyme activation, ionic charge balance, and

In terms of water and nutrient balance in plants, potassium has two major functions. It plays biochemical role in activation of enzymes for production of proteins and sugars, while it also plays biophysical function in maintaining turgor of cell and thus protecting water content in

plant. A turgid cell keeps the vitality of plant leaves and efficient photosynthesis.

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables**

**Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables**

Md Asaduzzaman and Toshiki Asao

Md Asaduzzaman and Toshiki Asao

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75654

human health benefits beyond basic nutrition.

**2. Potassium as major plant nutrition**

osmoregulation of cell [5, 6].

**1. Introduction**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

#### **Chapter 1 Provisional chapter**

#### **Introductory Chapter: Potassium in Quality Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Introductory Chapter: Potassium in Quality Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.75654

Md Asaduzzaman and Toshiki Asao Md Asaduzzaman and Toshiki Asao

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75654

**1. Introduction**

Potassium is one of the essential plant nutrients that play a crucial role in the quality improvement of fruits and vegetables. It has also a great requirement and impact on the postharvest qualities of fruits and vegetables. In this regard, hydroponic technology is a managed culture system where proper management of potassium nutrition is possible for producing quality horticultural crops. Management of chemical composition including potassium content of hydroponic culture solution and physical modification of growing environments can enhance the performance of agricultural produce. Therefore, development of cultivation methods leads to production and supplementation of specialty fruits and vegetables providing several human health benefits beyond basic nutrition.
