4. Conclusions
It has been sharply suggested that future research on organic versus conventional farming systems should not be limited to the measurement of product quality differences but should hopefully focus, on both sides, on optimisation of cultivation practices and postharvest management, taking into account of the peculiarities of each system (Lester & Saftner, 2011). Important specific issues of organic crop production are those related to soil fertility/plant root
interactions and to reduced release rates of mineral plant nutrients from organic fertilisers. However, even though plant mineral nutrition is recognised as a key input in the overall management of fruit crop production, this management has been generally directed in the past more to production outcomes than to postharvest and consumer-oriented fruit quality (Ferguson & Boyd, 2002; Pelayo-Zaldívar, 2010). In this context, the present study aimed at providing information about the effects on fruit quality of different fertilisation strategies tested in order to optimise cultivation practices in organic apple production. Results obtained on cv. Golden Delicious apples grown
in the geographic area of Alto Adige did not evidence a consistent and remarkable influence of the considered fertilisation approaches on the formation of flavour related compounds, even when they gave place to marked differences in soil available nitrogen levels. In this study, effects due to fertilisation treatments were evaluated on
fruits from young trees and it is plausible that the quite moderate impact observed on the chemical profile in the present study would be even less noticeable in fruits from adult trees. However, a limited sensory test highlighted that significant differences for several sensory attributes could be detected between apples obtained by the different fertilisation treatments and characterised bya quite similar chemical profile. Further research is needed to establish whether the magnitude of these effects could produce significant changes in the quality as perceived by consumers.