Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Vegetable Crops Dept., Fac. Agriculture, Alexandria Univ., Egypt
2
Food Science & Technology Dept., Fac. Agriculture, Alexandria Univ., Egypt
3
Fertilization Technology Dept., National Research Centre,Dokki, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
Two experiments were established at the Experimental Station Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University in two winter seasons of 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 to evaluate the effects of application three levels of inorganic N fertilizer (40, 80 and 120 kg N fad.-1 as ammonium nitrate) and control treatment (without addition, soil N), three rates of chicken manure (5, 10 and 15 m3 fad.-1) in addition to control treatment (without application chicken manure) as well as their interactions effect on curd quality of cauliflower "Amshiry" cultivar.
The results showed positive effects of using either inorganic or organic N fertilizers on cauliflower curds quality characters. The inorganic N form was more effective in the presence than in absence of organic fertilizer concerning curds quality. The application of high level of inorganic N fertilizer (120 kg N fad.-1), significantly, increased curd weight, phenolic compounds, concentrations of Ca and Mg of curds, and significantly decreased inflorescence stalks length of cauliflower curds. However, both medium and high levels of inorganic N form (80 and 120 kg N fad.-1) augmented curd diameter, dry matter content, protein nitrogen, true protein, non protein nitrogen as well as concentrations of some macro and micro-nutrient (N, P, K, Na and Zn) of curds compared with other treatments. Chicken manure at the highest rate (15 m3 fad.-1) reflected clear superior in all curds quality characters under consideration. Positive changes in all studied parameters viz. curd quality characteristics and nutritional value were obtained in response to the collaborative effect of both inorganic and organic N fertilization. The results of the current study indicated that combination of inorganic N level (80 kg N fad.-1 as NH4NO3) with chicken manure rate (15 m3 fad.-1; i.e., 72 kg N fad.-1) gave the superior curd quality characteristics with high nutritional values for cauliflower "Amshiry" cultivar under the study region conditions.
Keywords
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