PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Izaskun Romero
AU  - Enrique García-Escudero
AU  - Ignacio Martín
TI  - Leaf Blade versus Petiole Analysis for Nutritional Diagnosis of <em>Vitis vinifera</em> L. cv. Tempranillo
AID  - 10.5344/ajev.2012.11004
DP  - 2012 Nov 28
TA  - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
PG  - ajev.2012.11004
4099  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2012/11/28/ajev.2012.11004.short
4100  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2012/11/28/ajev.2012.11004.full
AB  - The temporal stability and the analysis reproducibility of nutrient concentration of leaf blades and petioles of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Tempranillo was evaluated at a vineyard representing the soil and climate conditions within the AOC Rioja (Spain). Leaf blade and petiole were sampled throughout the growing season and analyzed for the concentration of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and B. Regarding reproducibility of the analyses, blade had lower CV (%) of total N, and K than petiole, while petiole showed lower CV (%) than blade for B. On the other hand, P and Mg showed similar CV (%) in blade and petiole at flowering while blade showed lower CV (%) at veraison for both nutrients. Finally, Ca, Mn, and Fe presented a similar CV (%) in both tissues throughout the growing season. Seasonal changes of nutrient concentration in leaves confirmed the need for specific reference values for both leaf blades and petioles in each phenological stage. In general, nutrient concentration trends throughout the growing season showed short periods without differences between consecutive samplings near the 100% cap fall phenological stage, while no statistical differences were found between samples obtained at any time throughout veraison. Results suggest that blade could be a more appropriate tissue to evaluate total N, and K, whereas petiole offers better results for B determination. Calcium, Mn and Fe will have a similar accuracy in both tissues at any phenological stage. Finally, while P and Mg showed similar reproducibility in blade and petiole at flowering, blade seems be a better tissue for P and Mg nutritional diagnosis at veraison.