ISHS Acta Horticulturae 533: VIII International Symposium on Timing Field Production in Vegetable Crops
HARVESTING TIME ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF STEMS CHICORY (CICHORIUM INTYBUS L.) |
| Authors: | C. Nicola, B. Vincenzo |
| Keywords: | cultural methods, cultivars, panel test, organoleptic features, colour |
| Abstract:
Stems chicory, also known as ‘catalogna’ or ‘asparagus’ chicory, is mainly cultivated in southern Italy for its tender stems and leaves eaten both raw and cooked. The aim of this work is to assess the influence of harvesting time on yield and quality of two stems chicory cultivars. Trials were carried out in Bari (41° North lat.) over two years. Two cultivars: ‘Galatina’ and ‘Brindisina’, were grown with a density of 55.600 plants ha-1; seedlings were transplanted in September and harvested 90–110–120–130 and 90–100–115–135 days after planting, in the first and second year, respectively. For each harvesting the most important morphological and yield characteristics were determined; in addition, color measurements were taken according to CIELAB system. Panel tests on the fresh stems were performed to assess organoleptic features. In the first year, with delayed harvests, an increase was recorded of total yield (53 to 65 t ha-1), plant weight (946 to 1176 g), weight and number of stems, processing yield. In the second year, the largest yield was observed at the second harvesting, 71 t ha-1. Between the cultivars, ‘Galatina’ resulted to have larger yields than ‘Brindisina’ (62 and 57 t ha-1, respectively). Stems from second and third harvesting were more appreciated for their organoleptic characteristics, whereas fibre content was higher in the last harvest. | |
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