Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2011, 59(5), 17-22 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201159050017

The effect of nitrogen and sulphur fertilization on the yield and content of sulforaphane and nitrates in cauliflower

Nina Čekey1, Miroslav Šlosár1, Anton Uher1, Zoltán Balogh2, Magdaléna Valšíková1, Tomáš Lošák3
1 Fakulta záhradníctva a krajinného inžinierstva, Katedra zeleninárstva, Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita v Nitre, Trieda Andreja Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovenská republika
2 Fakulta agrobiológie a potravinových zdrojov, Katedra genetiky a šlachtenia rastlín, Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita v Nitre, Trieda Andreja Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovenská republika
3 Ústav agrochemie, půdoznalství, mikrobiologie a výživy rostlin, Mendelova univerzita v Brně, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Česká republika

In the field experiment with cauliflower, we investigated the effect of four different variants of nitrogen and suplhur fertilization on quantity and quality of cauliflower in the term of sulforaphane content and nitrate accumulation.
The influence of fertilization was statistically significant between control variant and fertilization variants and in both experimental years within all parameters of cauliflower yield.
The highest yield of cauliflower was reached at the variant 4 when it was fertilized on the level of nutrients N:S = 250:60 kg.ha-1. The increase of yield against control variant represented value 26.6%. The applied fertilization positively affected on the accumulation sulforaphane in the cauliflower. Its highest content was determined at the variant 4 (N:S = 250:60 kg.ha-1). In comparison with control variant, the sulforaphane content was increased about 18.4%. On the other side, applied nutrition resulted in increased accumulation of nitrates in the cauliflower. The most increase of nitrate content, compared to the control variant, was also ascertained at the variant 4 (about 31.4%).
The gathered data point towards to the possibility and way how we could effect on the increased accumulation of sulforaphane in cauliflower florets. This sphere of fertilization effect on the sulforaphane content is not sufficiently explored well. Our aim is to continue in this research subject and to find way how to cultivate vegetables with higher content of health-promoting compounds.

Keywords: cauliflower, fertilization, nitrogen, sulphur, yield, sulforaphane, nitrates
Grants and funding:

The study was supported by the Research plan No. MSM6215648905 "Biological and technological aspects of sustainability of controlled ecosystems and their adaptability to climate change", which is financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.

Received: March 31, 2011; Published: March 23, 2014  Show citation

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Čekey, N., Šlosár, M., Uher, A., Balogh, Z., Valšíková, M., & Lošák, T. (2011). The effect of nitrogen and sulphur fertilization on the yield and content of sulforaphane and nitrates in cauliflower. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 59(5), 17-22. doi: 10.11118/actaun201159050017
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