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

Abstract

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.