The quality of mini-watermelon fruits in relation to different grafting combinations.

Mini-watermelons (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai cv. minirossa) made their appearance on the market in 2003 soon revolutionizing the melon market. In fact, the demand for this variety has been steadily growing thanks to consumer satisfaction with its taste and convenience, as it reaches a maximum weight of 2-3 kg. To maintain production and quality standards of Mini-watermelon, various agronomic techniques have been applied. Among these, grafting represents a common practice in land-intensive Cucurbitaceae cultivation since it is an effective tool for controlling soil borne diseases and improving crop tolerance to abiotic stresses. It is well known that rootstock influences both yield and quality attributes of the fruit, despite this the horticultural industry has traditionally focused only on yield. Nowadays the increasing consumer preferences towards high quality foods makes it indispensable to carefully select rootstocks/scion combinations able to ensure also high-quality fruits. In this regards the research aimed to the evaluate the effects of different rootstocks, selected for their resistance to soil borne diseases, on the quality of mini-watermelon fruits. The data obtained allowed to identify the rootstocks most suitable for maintaining sensory characteristics and volatile aroma compounds of mini-watermelon fruits. The research evidenced that an appropriate choice of rootstock/scion combination can guarantee success of grafting not only in terms of control of plant diseases and yield but also of fruit quality.