engleski

Istrian purple and yellow onion bulb quality at different plant spacings

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is an important horticultural crop with a worldwide production of 93 168 548 tons while in 2016 in Croatia 26 858 tons of dry bulb onion were harvested, with an average yield exceeding 32 t ha-1 (FAOSTAT). Critical decision that onion growers must address is optimization of plant density which determines cost, plant yield and bulb quality. Objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different within and between row spacings on Istrian purple and yellow onion bulb characteristics. The field experiment was conducted during two vegetative seasons and was set up as a randomized block design with two factors: 20, 30 and 50 cm between row spacing and 10, 15 and 20 cm within row spacing. Bulb weight increased as between row spacing increased for Istrian purple and red onion, while in row plant spacing had significant effect only for yellow onion. Row spacing had similar effect on Istrian purple and yellow onion bulb height and diameter (P < 0.001 for both genotypes). Flavonoid, anthocyanin and sugar content of both genotypes were less affected by different row spacings than observed bulb morphological traits. These results suggest that it is possible to adjust planting density of Istrian purple and yellow onion in order to obtain marketable bulbs without significant changes in bulb quality.

Allium cepa L. ; bulb quality ; phytochemicals ; plant spacing ; yield

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