Compared with other European countries, Poles do not eat enough leafy vegetables, or example endive, which belongs to Asteraceae family. In Poland, endive is not a popular vegetable and is grown only amateur gardeners. Endive is one of the most nutritious and healthy leafy vegetables. It contains more minerals (especially phosphorus, calcium and potassium), provitamin A and vitamins B1, B2 and C than lettuce, which is more popular in our country. Because of its high content of bitter compounds, endive has properties that can aid digestion. In our experiment, the content of macro- and micronutrients and nitrates in leaves of two endive cultivars was studied. One of the cultivars was Riccia a cuor ol’oro sel blondie – a botanical variety escarole (Cichorium endivia var. latifolium), with smooth leaves and the other one was Blonda a cuor plen – from the curled endive group (Cichorium endivia var. crispum) with fringed leaves. A field experiment was conducted in 2004-2006 at the Horticultural Experimental Station in Dołuje near Szczecin. The experiment was set in a one-factorial, randomized block design with three replications. The plot area was 2.88 m2 (1.80×1.60 m). Cucumber grown in manure was the forecrop. Seeds of endive were sown in a seed-bed on 20 June (in both years of the research). Transplants were planted on an open field at the phase of 4-6 leaves on 18 July (in 2006) and on 20 July (in 2007), in 40×30 cm distance. Leaf rosettes were harvested once: on 13 September (in 2006) and 8 September (in 2007). The results were statistically analysed by Tukey’s test, at the significance level of 0.05. It was proven that the content of macro- and micronutrients in endive leaves depended significantly on a cultivar. The curled endive cultivar (var. crispum) was characterized by a higher content of magnesium, iron, manganese and copper, while the leaves of the escarole cultivar (var. latifolium) contained more phosphorus, potassium, calcium and zinc but less nitrates. The cultivar Riccia a cuor ol’oro sel blondie (from the escarole group) contained more phosphorus, potassium and calcium, as mean values for the two years of the study. Regarding phosphorus – in the first year of the study, differences in the content of this macronutrient were not significant. However, significantly higher accumulation of phosphorus was determined in the second year in leaves of the botanical variety escarole, the fact what was also confirmed by the mean for both years of the study. This cultivar was also characterized by a significantly higher content of potassium (on average by 47.8%) and calcium (by 7.4%) in comparison with the curled endive. However, comparing the two cultivars, significantly higher amounts of magnesium (on average 187.9 mg 100 g–1 d.m.) and sodium (3.0 mg 100 g–1 d.m.) were assessed in the leaves of the endive cultivar from the curled endive group. It was proved that tested in the experiment cultivars differed significantly according to the macroelement content (Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) in the edible parts of the plants.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.