Biodynamic (BD) preparations 500 and 501 are plant strengthening agents of the biodynamic agriculture method, prepared from cow manure and powdered quartz. The resulting products are highly diluted and sprayed on soil and plants. The main purpose of these preparations is to promote the processes of energy and nutrient cycling as well as to improve plant and soil quality parameters. This study was carried out in 2013-2014, in order to evaluate the influence of biodynamic preparations 500 and 501 on the chemical composition of potato tubers: amounts of dry matter, starch and mineral elements (potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and nitrogen). The experiment included two factors: I – three coloured potato (Solanum tuberosum L) cultivars (Vitelotte, Blue Congo - purple flesh and Red Emmalie - red flesh), II – treatment with BD preparations as field sprays (four treatments: 1. Control sample (without BD preparations); 2. BD preparation 500; 3. BD preparation 501; 4. A blend of two preparations (BD preparation 500 and BD preparation 501). The research revealed that BD preparations 500 and 501 had no significant effect on the content of dry matter and mineral element in coloured potato tubers in any of the experimental variants. However, BP preparation 501, as well as a combination of both 500 and 501 BP preparations, increased the starch content in potato tubers significantly (p<0.05). It was found that the quality indicators of potato tubers depended on the genetic characteristics of a cultivar. According to the two-year mean data, the significantly largest amounts of potassium (29.51 g kg-1 d.m.) and magnesium (1.475 g kg-1 d.m.) were accumulated in potato tubers of the cultivar Red Emmalie. Tubers of cv. Vitelotte accumulated the biggest amounts of dry matter (27.03 %) and starch (18.17 %).
Harvested potatoes and pumpkins are usually stored before processing or consumption. This makes it critical to understand the effect of storage on the chemical composition changes in these products. Prolonged storage can cause a decrease/increase or maintain the level of some nutrient. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in chemical composition during storage of the great pumpkin cvs. ‘Justynka F1 ’, ‘Karowita’, ‘Amazonka’ fruit flesh and the coloured fleshed potato cvs. ‘Blue Congo’, ‘Vitelotte’ and ‘Blue Danube’ tubers. Standard methods were applied to determine the following: dry matter, crude fibre, crude ash and weight loss. After four months of storage, the dry matter content significantly increased in all potato cultivars tubers. The largest increase in dry matter was measured in tubers of ‘Blue Congo’ (2.34%). During storage, crude ash content changed non-significantly in all cultivars. Crude fibre content decreased significantly in ‘Blue Danube’ (1.02%) and ‘Vitelotte’ (0.50%) tubers. After four months of storage the largest weight losses were found in tubers of ‘Vitelotte’. After storage period dry matter significantly decreased in all tested pumpkin cultivars. The maximum dry matter and weight loss decrease was found in flesh of ‘Justynka F1 ’ (5.36%). The content of crude ash tended to increase in flesh of all cultivars, but no significant differences were found before and after storage period. Crude fibre content significantly decreased in all pumpkin cultivars. The highest crude fibre decrease was found in flesh of ‘Justynka F1 ’ (17.05%).
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