Comparative study between biocrystallization and chemical analyses of carrots (Daucus carota L.) grown organically using different levels of green manures
Jo. Andersen et al., Comparative study between biocrystallization and chemical analyses of carrots (Daucus carota L.) grown organically using different levels of green manures, BIOL AGRIC, 19(1), 2001, pp. 29-48
Carrots were grown organically using different levels of green manure, and
examined by means of biocrystallization and chemical analyses. Firstly, to
determine the ability of the biocrystallization method to discriminate the
effects of green manure treatments (10), harvest times (4) and years (2), b
ased on visual scoring of the morphological feature crystal coordination. S
econdly, to examine the relationship between the biocrystallization variabl
e and 11 chemical variables: Ca, Mg, fructose, glucose, sucrose, beta -caro
tene, vitamin C, dry matter, total-N, nitrate-N and total amino acids. The
field trial was designed in order to generate a wide range in N-availabilit
y. The chemical variables showed systematic differences in physiological an
d qualitative properties among the carrot samples. The biocrystallization v
ariable discriminated the factors treatment and year (p < 0.01), with ident
ical patterns of discrimination among the two years, and discriminated mino
r differences among the harvest times (p similar to 0.05). The lowest level
s of coordination were found in samples from near-N-depleted plots, and vic
e versa; however the overall linear relationship to N-availability and the
N-related variables was weak. In conditional covariance analyses, involving
all 12 variables, the biocrystallization variable was in both years condit
ionally correlated only with total amino acids. When including treatment as
discrete variable, the biocrystallization variable was conditionally corre
lated only with this variable. It was concluded that the biocrystallization
variable detected differences among the treatments which could not be expl
ained solely by differences in the chemical variables.