Yield and quality of curly kale grown using organic fertilizers

Marta R Verruma-Bernardi,Marcos D Ferreira,Daniella M Pimenta,Alberto Cc Bernardi,Raissa Moret,Elizabete A Covre,Gabriel Rr Levrero,Victor A Forti,Fernando C Sala,Simone Ds De Medeiros,Sandra Regina Ceccato-Antonini

doi:10.1590/s0102-0536-20210116

Abstract

ABSTRACT Kale is a vegetable that has high nutrition content, and balanced fertilization is essential to ensure high yield and quality of agricultural products. Curly kale, less known than regular leaf kale, is a new possibility for consumption. However, little is known about the influence of the type of fertilization on nutritional characteristics. This study aims to evaluate the influence of using organic fertilizers on the productivity, microbiological, and physico-chemical characteristics of Darkibor hybrid curly kale. The treatments consisted of three sources of organic fertilizers, one of organomineral fertilizer, and the control (without fertilization). The highest productivity was observed for kale that was treated with fertilizer in the organomineral composition in all harvests. For microbiological analyses, there was no contamination in all treatments, following legislation. There was no significant difference between treatments for the physicochemical composition, highlighting the high levels of phenolic compounds and proteins in curly kale. There was no difference between treatments regarding the mineral content of the leaves. Organic and organomineral fertilizers made it possible to produce curly kale with adequate physicochemical composition, free from microbiological contamination and heavy metals.

Highlights

A couve é uma hortaliça com bom valor nutricional e adubações balanceadas são essenciais para garantir alta produtividade e qualidade de produtos agrícolas
Studies have shown that curly kale has high concentrations of minerals, fibers, and proteins (Thavarajah et al, 2016)
This study aims to evaluate the effect of using three organic fertilizers and one organomineral on the productivity, microbiological and physicochemical characteristics of curly kale

Summary

Introduction

A couve é uma hortaliça com bom valor nutricional e adubações balanceadas são essenciais para garantir alta produtividade e qualidade de produtos agrícolas. Brassica plants are rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds (Baenas et al, 2012), highlighting proteins (Lorenz & Maynard, 1988), carbohydrates, calcium, iron, iodine, vitamin A, niacin, vitamin C (Trani et al, 2015) and antioxidants (Baenas et al, 2012). Within this genus, species of B. oleracea evolved in many plant varieties where popular vegetables such as kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli are found essential sources of nutrients in many countries (Ordás & Cartea, 2008). Organic fertilizer is a product of plant, animal, or agro-industrial origin, which, when applied to the soil, improves fertility and increases crop productivity and product quality (Trani et al, 2013)

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