Effect of irrigation with different municipal wastewaters on ripening indexes and chemical components of nectarine fruits

Abstract Municipal wastewaters reuse can lead to an important benefit linked to improve water resources and to preserve water quality, so reducing the environmental impacts. In many parts of the world the reuse of municipal wastewaters in agriculture has become a very common practice. One of the many benefits of the reuse is the possibility to utilize the wastewater chemical components as nutrients. The main goals of this work have been to evaluate the effects of these components on the ripening indexes and on the chemical profile of the nectarine fruits irrigated with three different municipal wastewaters compared with conventional water, during 2012. The wastewater irrigation did not affect yield components, but influenced ripening indexes and fruits chemical components. The results suggested that the treated wastewaters can be used not only as a valid alternative for irrigation but can be considered as a valid input of fertilization in order to increase its efficiency and to minimize the agricultural environmental impact.