The Effect of Sowing Date and Harvest Time on Leafy Greens of Quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Yield and Selected Nutritional Parameters

Katarzyna Adamczewska-Sowińska, Józef Sowiński and Anna Jama-Rodzeńska
Additional contact information
Katarzyna Adamczewska-Sowińska: Department of Horticulture, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Józef Sowiński: Institute of Agroecology and Crop Production, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Anna Jama-Rodzeńska: Institute of Agroecology and Crop Production, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: In 2015–2017, field experiments were conducted, in two facilities of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences: at the Research and Didactic Station in Psary (51°19′08” N, 17°03′37” E) and in the plots of the Department of Crop Production in Pawlowice (51°17′32” N, 17°11′72” E). The research aimed to evaluate fresh biomass yield and selected quality parameters of quinoa grown as a green leafy vegetable. The study was conducted on two soils: medium (clay soil texture) and light (sand soil texture), sowing quinoa in spring and summer periods. On both soils, quinoa was harvested 5 times at each sowing date. The yields of fresh plant biomass, basic morphological characteristics and certain quality traits were compared. All experimental factors had a significant effect on quinoa fresh biomass yield. On light soil, quinoa yielded 4 times lower than on medium soil, and its cultivation posed a high risk, especially at the summer sowing date. The experimental factors used had the greatest effect on macronutrient content. Growing quinoa on medium soil yielded biomass with higher K, Mg, Ca and N-NO 3 concentration, while spring sown plants had higher K and N-NO 3 concentration. Harvesting date had the greatest effect on the change in nutritional values. Potassium content decreased as the harvest date was delayed, and N-NO 3 content decreased gradually until the fourth harvest date. The results showed that quinoa should be harvested as a green leafy vegetable when it reaches a height of 20–30 cm; biomass production is then at 500–1000 g per m 2 , potassium content is less than 10 g per 100 g dry matter and N-NO 3 content is less than 100 mg 100 −1 f.m.

Keywords: quinoa; biomass yield; biological value; carotenoids; polyphenols; minerals ratio (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/5/405/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/5/405/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:5:p:405-:d:547248

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().