Scientific Papers Series B Horticulture

Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture. Vol. LVII, 2013Print ISSN 2285-5653, CD-ROM ISSN 2285-5661, Online ISSN 2286-1580, ISSN-L 2285-5653EFFECT OF FOLIAR FERTILIZATION ON THE CHEMICALCOMPOSITION OF FIVE GHERKINS FRUIT HYBRIDS(CUCUMIS SATIVUS L.) GYNOECIOUS TYPEAND PARTHENOCARPIC FRUCTIFICATIONFlorin Constantin IACOB, Gheorghe CÂMPEANU, Nicolae ATANASIU, Elena CATAN,Gabriela NEAAbstractUniversity of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest,59 Marasti Blvd., Bucharest, RomaniaCorresponding author email: fliacob@info.uaic.roLarge number of gherkins type cucumbers varieties and hybrids emerging as a result of increasing demands frompretentious consumers related to quality aspects such as shape, color, firmness, appearance and capacity of storage,have led in time to change culture technology, foliar fertilization having a key role to achieve these goals, withoutknowing in detail the long-term influence on the chemical composition of the fruits used or human consumption.Therefore, this study comes to support clarification of these issues. As a result of data obtained concerning chemicalcomposition of the fruits of five cucumber gherkins hybrids: Promisa, Trilogy, Karaoke, Kybria and Componist andinterpreted in the USAMVB it was concluded that it differs depending on fruit size and age at which they were collected.Soil pH, fertilizer pH which is applied to leaf and the degree of hydration of the fruits has a direct influence on thechemical composition.Key words: Cucumis sativus L., fertilization, fruits, number, quantity.INTRODUCTIONChemical composition represents an importantfactor with direct influence on fruits quality ofgherkins cucumber. Information concerning theamount of different chemicals can be obtainedfrom the analysis of dry matter and organicacid titration. Concentrations of these organiccompounds in fruits are different depending onthe cultivar and strongly influenced by theirland reserve, which can be found in the form ofions, being picked up by plants (Rivis, 2004).In order to obtain conclusive results is veryimportant to know the exact amounts ofsubstances (N-NH 4 , N-NO 3 , P, K) in the soiland their concentrations in the solutions used tofoliar fertilization.In one plant exist at one point all commonfructification elements: flowers, small, mediumand large fruit, located to a distance less orgreater than the radicular system having asignificant influence on the chemical compositionof gherkins cucumber fruits. Resultsfollow in the first place nitrates and nitritesroute from the moment of foliar fertilizationthrough fruit until using them in closecorrelation with their quantities in the soil.According to studies on the pollution ofhorticultural products where there is a balanceddiet, approximately 75-80% of nitrate derivedfrom vegetables, nearly 15-20% from water andsomewhere in the 5-7% from meat and milk.Their accumulation in different organs of theplant depends on the speciesWith 1349 samplesto Cucumis sativus L. and its varieties originatingin China, India and Turkey, The U.S.National Plant germplasm is the largest in theworld.MATERIALS AND METHODSTo accomplish this work were studied fivedifferent variants (for five hybrids Promisa,Trilogy, Karaoke, Kybria and Componist) onwhich foliar fertilization was performed withCropmax product. The pH of the culturesubstrate (soil in which was embedded wellfermented manure) was 7.4 for Trilogy and73