INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT NUTRIENT SOURCES AND GENOTYPES ON THE CHEMICAL QUALITY AND YIELD OF LETTUCE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of different fertilizers on the yield and antioxidant capacity of two lettuce genotypes “Santoro RZ” and “Kiribati RZ”.Lettuce genotypes are fertilized with organic fertilizer (Slavol) and organic-inorganic NPK fertilizer (Fitofert hemisuper plus ) during the vegetation. The analyzed parameters were root length and head weight of lettuce, total phenols, and flavonoids, as well as antioxidant capacity. Lettuce genotypes “Santoro RZ” and “Kiribati RZ” fertilized with organic fertilization showed the highest content of total phenols (358.13 ± 1.30 mg RU/100 g of fresh sample), the total content of flavonoids (114.22 ± 0.3 mg RE/100 g of fresh sample) and antioxidant capacity (neutralization of DPHH radicals 58.72 ± 1.88%). The results revealed that the yield and antioxidant capacity of lettuce can be improved by using organic fertilizers.