Iodide and iodate effects on the growth and fruit quality of strawberry

Iodine deficiency is an environmental health problem affecting one-third of the global population. An iodine biofortification hydroponic experiment was conducted to explore the iodide and iodate uptake characteristics of strawberry plants, to measure the dosage effects of iodine on plant growth and to evaluate the influence of I^- or IO₃^- application on fruit quality.

After biofortification, the iodine contents of the fresh strawberry fruits were 600-4000 µg kg^-1 , covering the WHO dietary iodine allowance of 150 µg · day^-1 for adults. The iodine uptake of the strawberry plants increased with increasing I^- or IO₃^- concentration of the culture solution. At the same iodine concentration, the iodate uptakes of various plant organs under I^- treatments were apparently more than those under IO₃^- treatments. Low-level exogenous iodine (I^- ≤ 0.25 mg L^-1 or IO₃^- ≤ 0.50 mg L^-1 ) not only promoted plant growth and increased biomass per plant, but also improved fruit quality by enhancing the vitamin C and soluble sugar contents of the strawberry fruits. Nevertheless, excessive exogenous iodine inhibited plant growth and reduced biomass per plant. IO₃^- uptake apparently increased the total acidity and nitrate content of the fruits, reducing the quality of the strawberry fruits. Conversely, I^- uptake obviously decreased the total acidity and nitrate content of the strawberry fruits, improving the fruit quality.

The strawberry can be used as a target crop for iodine biofortification. Furthermore, applying an appropriate dose of KI can improve the fruit quality of the strawberry plants. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.