Metabolomics analysis of cucumber fruit in response to foliar fertilizer and pesticides using UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS

Pesticides and fertilizers are often used to improve the yield and quality of cucumber fruit. In this study, the effect of pesticide applied with or without foliar fertilizer on the cucumber fruit metabolism was investigated. The results showed that the mixed use of pesticides and foliar fertilizer could significantly increase the contents of organic acids and the antioxidant level. When pesticide was used without foliar fertilizer, cucumber fruit up-regulated (1.3 times) shikimate-phenylpropanoid pathway and improved the antioxidant capacity to deal with the pesticide stress. However, the tricarboxylic acid cycle was up-regulated 1.1 times and the antioxidant capacity was improved to promote the pesticide dissipation when pesticide was applied with foliar fertilizer. These observations indicate that the mixed application of foliar fertilizer and pesticides can regulate related metabolites and metabolic pathways, improve the quality and antioxidant capacity of cucumber fruit, and promote the dissipation of pesticides.