CONTENT OF NITRATES IN SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ITS PROCESSING PRODUCTS WHEN GROWN ON GRAY FOREST SOILS

Abstract

The excessive accumulation of nitrates in plant products is a consequence of the uncontrolled application of high and ultra-high rates of mineral fertilizers, in particular, nitrogen fertilizers that contain nitrate nitrogen. During the last decades in Ukraine, intensive farming measures are used everywhere in agriculture, which are determined by the introduction of high and often unbalanced rates of mineral fertilizers. This led to an increase in the content of nitrates in field crops, in particular in grain, oil and other technical crops. With the targeted use of mineral fertilizers, it is possible to increase the content of nitrates both in sunflower seeds and in the products of its processing: oil, fusi oil, and meal. One of the important factors in preventing the accumulation of nitrates in plant products is the periodic agrochemical and agroecological monitoring of soils in order to identify imbalances in the content of nutrients, changes in acidity, humus, and the content of other substances. The purpose of the research is to determine the content of nitrates in sunflower seeds and their processing products: fusi from oil and meal, taking into account the indicators of the agrochemical composition of the gray forest soil. The research was conducted during 2021-2022 on the production crops of FG "Zorya Vasylivka" village. Vasylivka, Vinnytsia district, Vinnytsia region. The laboratory analysis of the agrochemical composition of the soil according to the indicators of humus content, easily hydrolyzed nitrogen, mobile phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, pH reaction of the soil solution was carried out at the Zhytomyr branch of the State Institution "Derzhgruntokhorona" (Institute of Soil Protection of Ukraine) according to standard methods. Laboratory analyzes of the content of nitrates in sunflower seeds, fuschia and meal were carried out at the Vinnytsia branch of the State Institution "Derzhgruntokhorona" (Institute of Soil Protection of Ukraine) according to standard methods. In the conditions of the right-bank forest-steppe, when growing sunflowers on gray forest medium-loamy soils with a low provision of easily hydrolyzable nitrogen, medium - mobile phosphorus and high - exchangeable potassium when N45P45K45 is applied under its sowing, the nitrate content in sunflower seeds is 32.2 mg/kg, which in 9 ,3 times less than the maximum permissible concentration. At the same time, when making meal from sunflower seeds, the nitrate content in it increases by 47%, which requires additional control when using it for fodder purposes. And the content of nitrates in sunflower oil fuzz is 24% lower than in sunflower seeds, which makes it safer for feed use than meal.