FAT AND TOCOPHEROL CONTENT IN THE SEEDS OF RED AMARANTH IN CONDITIONS OF DIVERSIFIED FERTILIZATION WITH MACROELEMENTS

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the content of fat and tocopherols in the seeds of Polish cultivars of red amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L.) – Rawa and Aztek – under the influence of varied macroelement fertilization in the environmental conditions of the Zamość region of south-eastern Poland. In a three-year field experiment (2013–2015) set up in a randomized split-plot design, red amaranth was grown as a test plant at wide row spacing, on good wheat complex soil, in south-eastern Poland (N – 50º71', E – 23º04'). The field experiment had three variables: the weather in the years of research; four combinations of NPK application and two cultivars of the test plant – Rawa and Aztek. The research showed that the factor that most influenced the content of crude fat in the amaranth seeds was the cultivar, followed by the combination of NPK fertilization. The amount of α-tocopherol and total tocopherol depended significantly on the genetic factor and the fertilization combination, while the amount of β-tocopherol was determined more by fertilization than by the cultivar. The content of γ-tocopherol and δ-tocopherol was dependent only on the cultivar.