Highly scattered results of the content of total phosphorus in potato tubers and starch were found. The main source of the variation in starch phosphorus content was the potato variety character. The percentage of this source of variation in the total variation of starch phosphorus content was 78%. On the other hand, the total phosphorus content in potato tuber was determined by the environmental conditions. The percentage of variation from the interaction of years and locations in the total variation of tuber content of phosphorus was 84%.
This study was carried out to determine the water quality of the beaches at Matrouh, south-eastern Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, by studying environmental variables as well as phytoplankton abundance and community structure. Surface water samples were monitored from a series of beach sites over a period of five seasons during 2009–2010. A total of 203 phytoplankton species were identified from seven algal divisions. Seasonal differences in the quantitative and qualitative composition of the phytoplankton communities in the different sites were marked. Nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton abundances were found to be poorer than those of many other areas along Egyptian coast. The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index classified Matrouh water as being between clean and moderately polluted, whereas the WQI demonstrated that it was between good and excellent. It can be concluded that the index based onWQI is currently more suitable than the phytoplankton species index for assessing the quality of the water of the Matrouh beaches.