Influence of Cultivar and Planting Material on Soluble Dry Matter Content of Dahlia Tubers

The aim of present paper was to study the influence ofthe planting material (forced and unforced tuberous roots), and of the cultivar on the average soluble dry matter content (%) from Dahlia tuberous roots at harvest. Also, there were determined a series of relationships between soluble dry matter content and main plant characteristics, like average shoots per plant and average weight of the tuberous roots at harvesting. The study was conducted for two years at University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca on seven cultivars of Dahlia variabilis ‘cactus’ type: 'Kennemerland', 'TsukiYori No Sisha', 'Hayley Jane', 'Purple Gem', 'Star Favourite', 'Park Princess' and 'Friquolet'. Based on the results obtained it can be concluded that the forcing of the tuberous roots affected the accumulation of soluble dry matter content at dahlia tubers, but it also depends on the cultivar. The highest content of soluble dry matter was at following cultivars 'Star Favourite'/forced tubers (25.47%), 'TsukiYori No Sisha'/unforced tubers (24.80%), ‘Kennemerland’/unforced tubers (24.27%), 'Hayley Jane'/forced tubers (23.97%), and 'TsukiYori No Sisha'/forced tubers (22.57%). These dahlia cultivars can be recommended for inulin extraction.